It's about time
by djinni14
Summary: Time! What do you know about time? Do you understand how time works? You are a part of time. Everyone is. However are we all talking about the same time? Let's find out. - NOW COMPLTE
1. Chapter 1

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 1_

Rick was headed for home which in this case consisted of a tiny apartment that used to be a large room in a three story hotel. They had added a sink, a tiny refrigerator with no freezer, and changed out what might have been carpet for tile that was now cracked and broken and missing some in a few places. He wasn't any contractor but something was wrong somewhere.

His heating and air conditioning was the same old units sitting under his one and only window that the hotel had used. As for the bathroom it wasn't anyone's luxury retreat, but at least it worked and the hot water came from a central boiler room. His rent included water, power, and trash. He didn't have gas and his only way to cook was on a hot plate. There was no oven though he did have this little toaster oven that was sitting on a cheap metal tray.

His dining table was equally small and boasted two ugly chairs. His black and white TV wasn't overly large, either, and was sitting on a counter facing his bed.

His bed was the only thing that was new in the room. He had splurged and had spent over a hundred seventy-five dollars buying it and having it delivered. It was his pride and joy. He was even willing to overlook the sound of the A/C unit that had just come on in an attempt to keep the space cool. He really didn't want to know what the steam heating unit sounded like. He had no illusions that the stupid thing wouldn't whistle loudly at him.

Still his job required it and he had lived there for one year, four months, five days, and eighteen hours. Not that he was keeping track, even if he was.

The A/C was pounding in one ear, the TV was trying to reach the other, and he was lying on his really comfortable bed that was complete with sinfully soft sheets and a new comforter that was nice and warm and utterly ugly. He was very close to nodding off when someone started pounding on his door.

He left his beer on the side table that was floating off the floor. He didn't dare put more than a can of beer on it for fear of it falling off the wall completely. Since the light was on the wall it was the only thing on it.

Opening the door he found Ryan on the other side. He was direct and to the point. "Let's go, Rodgers, we have a job." Rick didn't bother complaining since he knew Ryan didn't care what he thought. He left him at the door, turned off the TV, and chugged his beer while it was still cool enough to enjoy and left the can there, empty.

He turned the lock and pulled it closed and was ready to go. There wasn't really anything inside worth stealing so his cheap lock didn't concern him any. Besides who was going to break in so they could steal his mattress.

The stairs were a mix of rusty steel and concrete. It was going to last a little while longer but he wasn't sure just how long. A year or two would be long enough, he hoped, since he had been with this group for a while.

Down on the parking lot his bike and Ryan's bike were waiting for them. He really liked his motorcycle. It was only two years old, a 1940 Crocker V-twin. It was manufactured only in Los Angeles and had been shipped out to New York for him just for this job. Yes, Harley-Davidson and Indian were far more well-known and purchased. It was just that when it came to power and handling, his bike beat them, hands down. That was important if he ever needed to get away. At the moment it was rather dirty-looking and Rick liked it that way since it better hid just what his bike could do. Plus who would steal a filthy bike like his?

Unlike Ryan who was pounding away on his trying to get it to fire up, his started up first thing. "Anytime, Ryan." Rick got in his jab partly because Ryan would be expecting it.

"FUCK YOU, RODGERS!" Ryan fired back. He finally got it to start and cranked the power a few times just to make sure it was running. "Let's go." He knew where they were going today.

Rick rode next to him and followed his lead as they wove around town to get to the site. Rick knew where he was but they'd never been there before. It gave him something to think about while they rode. Thanks to the noise neither of them could talk to the other until they stopped and killed the bikes.

"This is new." Rick looked it over. It was a little unassuming but wasn't a complete dump. It was, however, a place most law enforcement people would likely walk past. It was very lower middle class of which New York City was filled with.

"You've never been here before. This way." Rick was hoping that was a good thing. Not that he was keeping track, but he had spent the last year, four months, five days, and twenty hours doing his best to worm his way into this group without giving himself away.

This work was difficult. He was on his own and needed to make spontaneous decisions that benefited what he did and didn't give himself away.

Rick greeted the waiting man, "Espo," and went through the complex shaking of hands, fist bumps, and various wiggles that Espo seemed to love doing. "What have you got me out here for?" He had a good idea but just not sure why there.

"You're going to get to meet the man. That and we have a new load of girls to go through before we ship them out," Espo said. For Rick that was really good and possibly really bad news. He was finally going to get to meet the man behind all this. Question was, was it because he had been found out? That and how had they gathered up a new load of girls so fast?

"This way, Rodgers." Espo led the way with Rick right behind him and Ryan behind him. As he expected they weren't alone. This place had guards, all of which he had already met over time. Tyler, Dillon, Will, and Josh. Then he came into a room and saw a group of white woman all bound, sitting on the floor with a single black guy looking over them.

Rick had no trouble seeing that all of the women had obviously been crying and were scared; they had good reason to be scared. This group only worked with white women who were usually bought only from pictures and then shipped out to their new owners. They only worked with white women who were all in their early 20s. The prettier they were the more money they got. The really pretty ones with big tits got even better money. He still had yet to learn how they got the women or who did it. The group he knew were the ones that handled them. Got them ready and shipped out. He had managed to get out only information about Espo, Ryan, and the name of the last ship they had used.

"Rodgers, this is the man." Meaning he paid him for what he did.

"Sir." Rick didn't offer his hand. He wasn't an equal and if he had it might end badly for him.

The man eyed him suspiciously. "We're short two people and I'm _told _ that you can be trusted." He was tall, not heavy. With chocolate-colored skin, he was relatively handsome and was dressed in a really fine-looking suit; he was bald with a mustache and a hint of a goatee.

"Anything you want, sir, I'm your man," Rick agreed quickly.

"Espo and Ryan will show you. …I want this bunch divided up and in the container before 10:00. Then get the container picked up and out to the dock. It will be taken from there. Just do as you're told." Rick nodded and watched as _The Man _walked off.

"What's first?" Rick asked after he was out of the room. He at least now had a picture of him in his head even if he didn't yet know a name, but that could come later.

"We divide them up. We only want white women. The guys that get them are sometimes color-blind. We've ended up with chinks before. Then we take pictures and put them into the system. Within two hours they're sold and packed away for the trip. Pick one and let's get started," Espo told him and joined Ryan to set up the camera.

Rick hated to do it but if he was careful and got the name of the ship, the Coast Guard would stop it, search it, and rescue the girls. So he waded in and picked the closest one to him; he grabbed her arm and yanked her up.

He looked her over. She was clearly young, scared out of her mind, and blonde, though her hair was really short. She was almost flat-chested and was dressed simply though maybe a little dirty-looking. Rick attributed her disarray with how she had probably been handled.

He took her over to Espo and Ryan and watched. Ryan washed her face a little, combed her hair a little, and planted her in the chair. Espo took her picture and she was taken away, put in a different room, and the door was closed.

Rick did this again and again. Only once did even one of them plead with him. All she said was, "Please!?" Rick felt for her, he really did, but he was after the entire gang so he took her over to Espo and Ryan.

The next one didn't get her picture taken; she wasn't cleaned up any or had her hair combed. She was taken to a different door and thrown inside. That happened two more times until all of the girls had been separated.

"Now we wait," Rick was told.

Amazingly it only took an hour for all the girls in the one room to be sold. "This one first." Ryan showed them her picture and Espo whacked Rick on his back, then they both went to retrieve that one girl.

Rick saw Ryan tag her with her new owner's coded number and watched as Espo took her to the container and shoved her inside. They did that for all the other women in that same room. "If it's a long trip they'll die long before they even get there," Rick pointed out since it was just a small shipping container. At best it was sixteen feet long by eight feet wide and eight feet tall. The door was simple and needed an equally simple lock.

"Relax, Rodgers, we know what we're doing." Espo went into a different room and came out with three tin five gallon buckets and threw them inside. Then he returned with an armful of blankets. Water and what he thought was a little food were next.

Rick didn't help them close the container nor did he help lock the doors. He did notice that they used a large combination lock that Espo spun to a random number.

Then Ryan used a forklift, took the container outside, put it onto a flat bed, then came back inside.

The door was closed and that was the last time Rick saw that container. "What about the other girls?" They hadn't had their picture taken, nor had they been bought. They were white so what was so wrong with them?

"Those three are ours." Espo leered as Ryan simply grinned. For them now came the fun part of this job. This job not only paid well it had benefits.

"_Ours!?" _Was he saying what he thought he was?

"If you don't like yours you can have my sloppy seconds," Espo smirked and headed for the room those three girls were in. He wasn't just going to take her, he was going to give her ass a complete plumbing inspection.

Espo went in first and picked one while Ryan took one of the others. They wasted no time in ripping their clothes right off them. Each of the girls shrieked and did what they could to cover themselves.

The third one stayed on the floor and scooted across the floor on her ass to get as far away as the room allowed. Espo was first to have his mostly naked. He had her on her stomach and held her down while working on his pants. Ryan was right behind him.

Rick knew just what these two were going to do. They were going to rape them and since they hadn't been bought and couldn't be allowed to tell the authorities, all three were as good as dead after these two were done with them.

As much as he had hated and managed to stomach knowing that any number of young girls had had their lives upended and were now in possession of someone who was likely going to rape them over and over, this was just more than he could take.

This time he had actually helped ship off a group of young women whose lives were never going to be the same, especially if he didn't get out of there and chase down that container. But he couldn't allow these two to rape these three.

Rick knew they wouldn't listen to reason so that only left him one choice. He pulled out his knife, flipped it, and flipped it again to release the blade. He stepped up to Espo and plunged it into his back right where he wanted it to go, just as Espo plunged his cock inside the girl.

The blow damaged his spinal cord that did severe damage without actually killing him. If properly treated he wouldn't even bleed to death. He was now permanently paralyzed from the point of damage down, though. That meant that he could no longer rape the girls since he could no longer control his lower body. It also had him screaming in agony.

Rick yanked his blade out and turned to find Ryan quickly zipping his pants.

"I knew you were weak, Rodgers. I saw it in your eyes." Then it hit him as he pulled out his own knife and flipped it a couple of times to display the blade. "You're a goddamn FED, aren't you? You're never getting out of this building alive, FED!" Ryan spat out the word _FED._

"That's yet to be seen. You will if you run now. Otherwise you're leaving in a body bag." Rick gave him a choice: run and live to fight another day or die in this room.

Ryan didn't take him up on his offer and started to circle him, paying no attention to his buddy Espo who was still lying prone, bleeding, with his pants down on top of some girl. Ryan, however, wasn't really circling. He was slowly circling him, yes, but he was also getting closer to the other girl huddled in the corner. Once he was close enough he lunged for her and placed the tip of his blade in her throat which drew a little blood.

"Goody two-shoes FED! Girls are only good for one thing. Now drop the knife, FED, or watch this girl die!" Ryan threatened then slid the knife just a little, making a longer cut with still more blood.

Rick saw the blood. He also saw that the girl was scared to her very core and wasn't going to be of any help to him. She could get out of this alive if she would just think. But she was far too scared to think.

"Drop it now, FED!" He was taking too long and Ryan was actually starting to think that he was going to let him kill her and try and take him in a fight. Given that he was a Federal Agent meant that he was probably well-trained and his chances of winning were slim.

"Fine, just let the girl go." Rick began to bend down to put his knife down. Then suddenly and swiftly he raised his arm and threw his knife.

Ryan was taller then she was even if she was on tiptoe to try and get away from the knife at her throat. There was only one spot Rick could hit that would guarantee that Ryan couldn't cut her. His head.

Rick's knife went into his left eye and straight into his brain. Ryan was dead before he even hit the floor.

It took a lot of work to get the girls moving and out of this room and over to a back door. He really wanted to take these girls somewhere safe, however a lot of the girls were in that container and he had to save them too.

"Run, run till you find a police officer or until you can't run any longer, and don't split up. …NOW RUN!" Rick even pointed which direction to start running. He was actually satisfied that they were running when suddenly there was an intense burning pain in his back.

He reached for the spot and found a knife in his back. Turning to look behind him, he saw one of the guards had almost reached him. He had obviously thrown the knife. Rick pulled it out since if the guard could throw it so could he.

The guard tumbled and landed at his feet with his own knife in his throat and was choking up blood with each breath. Now he had to reach his bike so he could hunt down that truck with that container on the back.

He struggled to his bike, hitting walls and leaving blood the entire way. Getting his bike started was easy since it always started the first time, though it was also extremely painful. He did his best to ignore the growing pain in his back as he rode. Each and every bump shot up his back; all of them stopped right there and had him groaning and gritting his teeth. The only real benefit from all the pain was that it told him that he was still alive and that he still had a chance.

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He found it! He was staring right at it and it was even still on the trailer. A dockyard never actually slept since they had to get ready to start loading the ship for it to sail soon. This one, at least, was a little more quiet. He didn't really know all that much about dockyards, but he was betting that this group had somehow made sure their ship was the only ship. Now he just needed a phone.

He left his beloved bike that was coated in blood and staggered his way to what looked like a building that just might have a phone. He really needed a damn phone!

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He was tired, so very, very tired. He hadn't bothered to hang up the phone after calling his contact and telling him where the girls were. His back didn't even hurt any longer.

He really hoped those three girls made it. They didn't have to die or be raped. No girl should be treated like that no matter what she had done or said.

Still he had saved seven girls from being sold into either slavery or being comfort women, a new life of spreading their legs for the pleasure of who bought them. He was even fearful that they wouldn't have been raped just by who bought them, but raped by any man their owner ordered them to service. End up turned into sluts or whores.

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"This your guy?" a man in a suit asked another man who was dressed far more casually than he was.

They both looked at a handsome young man with a bit of a beard sitting in a metal chair on casters that had a split-in-several-places green leather seat cover. He even still had the handset of the phone in his lap.

"Yeah, Richard Rodgers. His task was to infiltrate a white slavery group that was selling young girls to foreign clients." He then gave Rick all the credit. "Those girls out there are alive and free because of him. They get to go home."

He watched as the man in the suit walked back outside. He sighed and looked at Rick who just sat there. There wasn't even that big of a puddle of blood on the floor. He'd already seen the bloody bike and the red trail from the bike leading to the entrance. Even the bloody trail from the bike to this room. "You did good, Rick, really good." That same trail was going to lead them to where the girls had been and eventually to a man named Espo who was never going to walk again. With a little persuasion he might even rat out the main guy.

"Rest in peace, Agent Rodgers." He was really going to miss him. Rodgers had excelled at his job and had a good heart. It was in times like these that they needed more like him.


	2. Chapter 2

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 2_

Kate didn't think her voice was all that good. She had certainly heard better, but it was more than good enough for this job. And it helped her to accomplish her primary job.

So there she was singing one of her favorite songs. It helped that her voice sounded so much better when she put herself into the song.

_My thoughts go back to a heavenly dance_

_A moment of bliss we spent_

_Our hearts were filled with a song of romance_

_As into the night we went_

_And sang to our hearts' content_

_The song is ended_

_But the melody lingers on_

_You and the song are gone_

_But the melody lingers on_

_The night was splendid_

_And the melody seemed to say_

_"summer will pass away_

_Take your happiness while you may"_

_There 'neath the light of the moon_

_We sang a love song that ended too soon_

_The moon descended_

_And I found with the break of dawn_

_You and the song had gone_

_But the melody lingers on_

She was surrounded by military men, all waiting to go off to die, or to go home for a short time before going back to die. She held onto the microphone and stared into the eyes of one of them while she sang. According to his rank insignia he was a nice juicy colonel.

She spent the next two songs singing directly to him and watched as he stared right back at her. Yeah, she had him hooked. Now all she had to do was get him into her room and then maybe somewhere else.

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It was time to go home and Kate was in the back. It was a tiny little room. Just big enough for her to change in since she was one of the very few women that looked the way she did. Her looks got her her own room instead of being crowded in with all the other women.

A knock sounded on her door and she got up to open it. She didn't even try to hide her smile. It was her colonel. He'd taken the bait and now there he was. With just a little work he would take her to his place since her place was a real dive.

"Hi," Kate purred at him and stood in the door.

"I came to tell you that I love your singing." He was apparently a little shy and that worked in her favor.

"Why thank you. …Is that all you love about me?" She hadn't yet changed so she was still in her outfit for this job.

"Oh, no. You're amazingly lovely." He also loved that she was tall; she was even wearing flats and she was still tall.

Kate gave him her best fake smile. "Why thank you, sir."

"Can I talk you into having a drink somewhere?" He would like to talk her into a whole lot more, but he needed to start somewhere.

"A drink with a handsome military man? How could I resist. …Just give me a minute to change and I'll be right with you." Kate gently closed the door in his face and quickly changed. In this case she didn't close some of her buttons. She didn't have the largest breasts but she had learned long ago that if she just gave a man a hint of them, that was where his eyes went. Even if he couldn't see a thing. She'd learned that even the hint of breasts, no matter how big had power over men.

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It was a little cold so even after they got to the bar she kept her coat on but left it open so he could see her.

There was also one more thing that made her perfect for this job. She could drink most men under the table and her colonel was no different. It took her almost three hours and she had to tease him a little at first until she soon learned something.

Another thing that made her the best choice for this particular endeavor was that she was good at reading people, mostly men. This one didn't want some sweet thing to coo at him all day. He wanted to be ordered around and with enough alcohol in him, it took almost nothing at all for her to be in the passenger seat as he drove back to base.

The guard took one look at her and didn't even ask either of them a question. He waved them through.

"Oops, should have turned left." He was drunk and had made a wrong turn. Kate simply smiled at him and watched him almost crash before slamming on the brakes.

She had to help him inside and watched as he tied a sock to the door handle then closed the door. "Don't want my roommate walking in on us," he explained. Kate nodded her silent agreement. Having his roommate walking in on them would indeed be bad.

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It was incredibly easy for her. He made it really easy for her. She had stripped to her bra and panties while he was totally naked, hands tied behind his back, down on his knees.

Lucky for her he had just the right prop. It wasn't perfect but it would do for the short term.

"Have you been a bad boy?" Kate used her prop to slap him slightly and he sucked in a breath. "You've been a very naughty boy who needs to be punished, haven't you?" She slapped him even harder which got him to hiss from the pain.

"Yes, I've been very bad and need to be punished," he quickly agreed and tried to twist his head around so he could see her barely dressed body.

She slapped him a little harder. "Who said you could move, bad boy?" She heard him hiss again.

Kate dropped the prop and stepped in behind him. "You've been a really bad boy." She leaned down and wrapped her arms around his head. "You have plans to kill Germans," she stated and felt him stiffen. He now knew that he was in trouble. However, it was already too late.

She used her leverage and her strength and snapped his neck then let his dead body fall and hit the floor. "You were a really bad boy."

Kate didn't even bother to get dressed first. There was a sock on the door to keep the roommate out so she started searching the entire room. Everything that she even thought for a moment was worth something went into a pillowcase. It was very kind of him to provide what she needed.

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With pillowcase in hand and her clothes back on, she went over to the dead body. "Nothing personal." Then she went over to his clothes and pulled out his wallet and car keys. Since she was already on the base she decided to press her luck and look for something more. Her little colonel might not have all that much.

It took some driving but she finally found something that might get her something that her colonel didn't have. Not that she'd looked at all the papers she had gathered from him yet.

Kate parked the car on the side and left the keys inside the car. She also left her pillowcase in the car and headed for the front door. Finding it locked wasn't normally a problem for her, but she hadn't brought her tools with her this time. So after making sure that no one was watching she began moving stealthily from window to window until she finally found one that wasn't locked.

Now she had to find something to climb up onto to get through the window. Once inside she shut the window behind her. It was a nice-looking place. Maybe a little too much leather for her taste, but still nice. Looking around also told her that there wasn't a single female touch in the place. He was definitely a bachelor.

She felt herself lucky that she had been given the time to search the entire place. She easily found the locked filing cabinet, albeit a small one. Thanks to not bringing any tools to unlock it with it had to stay locked. She also found the floor safe. "Not very creative, these Americans."

Problem was she either needed her tools or the combination so she was forced to abandon it for now. He had some food in the kitchen so she helped herself and began cooking. She even found some whiskey. "Naturally." Whiskey wasn't her favorite but annoyingly, it was all he had.

She had just finished eating when she heard a car. She raced to look out of a window and saw him exiting his car. He was older but not that old, so her plan for when he showed up might still work.

She killed the light in the kitchen and turned on the one in his bedroom. She needed to be ready for him so she quickly stripped off everything she was wearing and folded her clothes and placed them on a nearby chair. She was counting on the fact that if a hint of her breasts could get the younger ones, all of her could get the older ones. Then she ran to the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and ran back to the bedroom where she hid the knife on the lower end of the bed then proceeded to turn down the bed.

She heard the outer door close so she moved to the bedroom door and leaned against it. "It's about time you showed up." Kate smiled at him sultrily and saw the emotions roll across his face. He was first shocked to find her or anyone there. He liked what he was seeing. Then he became concerned. "Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?" Kate answered and began walking toward him. She noticed easily that he started out looking at her core and now his eyes were on her breasts. "I've been waiting for you. You're late. …They didn't tell me that you were this fit." She ran her hands over his chest.

"Too many clothes," she murmured and worked on getting them off of him.

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Kate hadn't really thought about going this far with him. It was just that he had been a really good boy and had eaten her pussy without complaint. She'd even had an actual orgasm for the first time in what felt like months. He also had a really nice cock for an older man.

Right now she was on top with him buried deep inside her. Having a man inside her had also been a while so it felt really good. She'd had to place his hands on her breasts so that placed a couple of marks against him. She was betting that when he was younger he might have actually been a hunk. If he was even a bit German she might actually be with him and want to keep him.

She was close to her next orgasm, really close. She leaned well back and used her muscles to keep from falling on her back. This position with him inside her was just what she needed as she climaxed. As she did she reached blindly for the knife that she had hidden earlier. Her orgasm caused her to miss it the first couple of times. Then she finally found it and wrapped her fingers around it.

Kate sat up quickly, leaned down to him just as quickly, and placed her knife at his neck. "Scream and you die." She actually pressed the blade just deep enough to draw blood. Based on the look on his face it had hurt. It had her smiling. He wasn't used to being hurt. He had been out of combat too long to remember the pain.

"What do you want?" he managed to whisper.

"A few things, actually. First I want your softening cock out from inside me. I will not give birth to a stinking half-American child. I would kill it first," Kate said scornfully as his now soft cock slipped out of her.

"German." She didn't even have an accent.

She corrected him. "Technically I'm American, born to two Americans. Raised in Germany, my home country. Now, the other two things: where's the key to the filing cabinet and what's the combination to your floor safe?"

"I will not tell you." What he had in that safe should never fall into German hands.

"OH, I think you will. You might be old and too old for children but I'm sure you want to keep your cock. Unless you want to sit on the toilet and pee out of a tiny hole like women do." Kate pressed her knife further into his throat to enforce her point and drew still more blood.

When he started to struggle she sliced his neck so badly that had him raising a hand to his neck only to have his hand severely slashed by her knife.

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He was now still naked and sitting in a chair while he bled out slowly from the knife wounds to his wrists. He was also bound to that same chair by the cords from his window blinds.

Kate was still naked and was spinning the dial to the proper combination that he had finally provided her. Pulling it open it had her smiling. It meant she didn't have to throw ice water at him to wake him up and work on him again for the combination.

Inside she found a pair of folders that were stamped **TOP SECRET** along with a little money and a weapon. She pulled it out and looked it over. "Bet you thought you were going to be the one to open the safe and surprise me." She was way too smart for that shit.

She didn't need to see inside the files. Having them stamped **T****OP ****S****ECRET** was more than enough for her. She had some money she could use and even had a weapon she might need.

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Now dressed with her find in hand, she started slapping him awake. "Thank you for the files. You were a good boy. And thank you for the sex. I'll bet when you were younger you were actually a pretty good fuck, but those days are over. …Enjoy your death, you only die once. You should relish death since you order it all at the time." Kate left him and went in search of his pants.

Now she had a choice. His car or the colonel's car? Since he was a higher rank she chose his car and left the colonel's car where it was.

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It was very dark and the base just didn't have that many lights. As a result she got lost trying to get off the base. She had to backtrack and use a different road. Finally when she saw a number of lights she did her best to drive right at them. Even if it meant driving across grass and ignoring the road itself.

Finally she had reached it and found it barred by a very simple barrier. There were three guards with only one inside his little building. Instead of driving right through it she chose to talk her way off the base.

"Hi, late night trip," Kate told him and saw the soldier inside the guardhouse answer the phone. When she saw him look her way she put it in gear, pushed the pedal to the floor, and plowed through their little barrier.

What followed her was a number of rounds from his handgun. It did manage to shatter her rear window with a bang. A quick look in her mirror showed that two of them had her car lined up and kept on firing.

That was when her right shoulder suddenly felt like it was on fire. Using her left hand to touch the area she found it was slick and wet with blood. She'd been hit which wasn't good. Now she was going to need medical attention which presented her with a whole new problem. First, though, she needed to get far enough away to dump this car and find another one.

Another look in her mirror showed her two sets of lights a ways behind her. They were just headlights but the best place for them to have come from was the base. "MPs" She wasn't getting away clean from this one. She didn't know for sure but it didn't pay to make a mistake.

She turned the wheel hard and cried out from the pain in her shoulder. It took muscles to turn the wheel and her shoulder was killing her. Another turn and more pain; then she saw something that might help her. It was a nice-sized bus, like a school bus. It was even headed her way. She tromped down hard on the accelerator and lurched forward.

_Boy Scout Troop #__16_

She stopped reading at _Boy Scouts._ Just what she needed. The bus outweighed her but if she hit it just right and wagered on the driver not being anything special, it just might work.

She saw a car coming the other direction and tried to plan it perfectly. She spun the wheel which caused more pain, hitting the right front of the bus. As she had planned, the stupid driver yanked on his wheel to avoid her and plowed headlong into the car coming the other direction.

Looking into her mirror she saw a really nice crash that almost blocked the road. The sight of it made her smile as she kept driving. Then suddenly her left front wheel came off and she lost control, slamming into a tree. She had unintentionally damaged her own car when she hit the bus.

Her head hit the steering wheel and when her vision cleared she reached for her head with a shaking hand that came back with fresh blood on it. GREAT! Now she had yet another injury to deal with. First she had to get out of the car. Except that the damn driver's door refused to open for her. When she tried to move she realized that she couldn't. Which only pissed her off even more. It took a moment to figure out that it was her lap belt was holding her in place. Removing it allowed her to climb into the back seat and then work at crawling out the back broken window.

Headlights told her someone was coming_. _She had only just gotten her feet on the ground when someone yelled at her. Her response was to aim at them with the general's weapon, fire at the silhouette, then turn to run.

She'd only taken three steps when her pain intensified exponentially. She hadn't even heard the sound of the three shots, two of which had hit her. She barely noticed that she was lying on her stomach on the ground.

She did hear voices and when someone kicked her she didn't move, biting her lip to hide the pain. When someone rolled her over she fired. But she missed literally everything. Unless you count the ground when the round came back down to earth.

This time she did hear two rounds being fired immediately after. A nanosecond later her world went dark.

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In her wake of destruction she left a dead colonel, a dead lieutenant general, one dead bus driver who had a wife and child, five injured Boy Scouts and an entire family dead in the car: a husband, wife, and son, aged five.

And that was just this episode. For a spy who supported the German government she'd left behind a lot of ruined and damaged lives and devastated families.


	3. Chapter 3

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 3_

Rick was really liking his new job and his new name. It wasn't exactly like his old job, but this one came with a whole lot of bennies. For one he had wings! Nice, big, beautiful, white wings, even if he only had them when he could be seen in his new true form. Granted he had never really thought about Angels or _God_ before. He'd simply been doing what he thought was right. Like his mother had raised him to be.

That was until the day he had died. True he'd been doing his job and thought he was really good at it, even if he did say so himself. Plus he lived his life like his mother had taught him. Though he would like to think that he would have risked everything for those girls anyway. Where they were being taken was just not a place for them. He only wished he had been able to do something about all the other girls that preceded them. They were likely living lives of living hell.

THAT was when his life changed. For the better he would like to say. He had been just aimlessly wandering deep inside a forest somewhere with no knowledge of how he had even gotten there. The last thing he really remembered was racing down streets on his bike and that his back was screaming at him with each and every bump.

It was just that this place was so very peaceful. Even the animals that he saw from time to time didn't really run away so much as just look at him and go about their business. He left them alone and they left him alone.

He really had no idea just how long he had been walking since the forest never seemed to really end. There was no real trail to follow. The trees were tall, there were ferns everywhere, bits of grass and other plants. The sun was seemingly always up and shining bright.

Besides an occasional animal he never saw anyone. Not a single soul. Then suddenly he did.

He was a little old looking. Just not wrinkled kind of old. Okay, maybe not that old, just older than him. "Why thank you, Castle." Rick was shocked. He was the very first person he'd seen for some time. In fact, now that he thought about it, he was the very first person he _had_ seen.

"You know my name? …I don't even know who you are." Rick was sure, well pretty sure, that he'd never seen him before. He felt a bit confused about his name, too. He was almost certain it hadn't been Castle before. But since the man seemed so positive about it he must be right.

"Oh, we've met, you just don't remember me. But that's okay, I don't take offense. People never seem to remember ever seeing me. Granted they had only just been conceived thanks to me and couldn't yet see anything." That was how it always was and he wasn't angry or even mildly upset.

"Walk with me. I have a job that I think you're perfect for." He waited for Rick to join him and started walking.

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That was the day that had changed everything. Rick found out that this guy was God. Not just God but THE _GOD._ The one true _God_ that everyone talked about. The person who had given life to, well everything, if you believed in that sort of thing.

_He_ had a job for him and since Rick was lonely as there being no one else around him, he listened. "I want you to go back to Earth and collect all the women that got away from you. All the ones that you didn't have a chance to save. All the ones that were taken from their families and sold to someone. There are three stipulations, though. Are you interested?"

"Save all the women those people sold into slavery or worse?" His imagination could conceive of something far worse than just slavery. "Count me in! You've come to the right guy!" Boy had _He_ found the right guy. "What are the stipulations?" _He _ had mentioned something about there being a catch. There was always a catch.

_He_ revealed the first stipulation. "You have to save them with no one but them being able to see you. Only the women you are saving can see you saving them."

"Sounds like a challenge." It sounded like a big one but he would still do it. "What else?"

"You _cannot_ kill anyone for _any_ reason. Thou shalt not kill and all that," _He_ stated simply.

"Not kill the guy that is or has been raping them over and over again? Not kill the guy that was presently doing who knows what to them when I come to rescue them? You don't ask for much, do you?" That might end up being a real challenge.

What if he showed up to rescue her and this sick person was…? Rick did his best to wipe that picture from his brain. Thinking it was bad enough, but what if he actually saw it? Or worse?

But _He_ was silent and just continued walking.

Rick really didn't want to kill anyone. He hadn't actually killed Espo, though if he remembered correctly he _had_ killed Ryan. Oh, and that guard that had… That had Rick reaching for his back.

"That wound is long since healed. Do you agree?" _He_ already knew that he would but Rick was the one that was going to have to tell himself.

"What's the third one?" _He_ had said there were three.

_He_ looked at him sternly. "You are forbidden to fall in love with any of the women that you save. You're there to save them, not make them your wife or have them become attached to you. You're there to take them back to the lives they would have had, not create a new one for them."

Not fall in love with any of them? Now that sounded like the simplest stipulation he had ever heard of. This was going to be easy! Save for one problem.

"Just how am I to accomplish this when I don't even know where I am now?" That and he had absolutely no idea where any of these girls were.

"You agree then?" _He_ waited expectantly. Rick needed to say it. To believe it himself and not have it forced on him.

"Save damsels in distress? Absolutely I agree! Do I get a white horse?" That was how heroes rode in and saved the girl, wasn't it?

"Close." _He_ actually chuckled softly then _H__e_ touched him. "You are now an Angel of God. You begin immediately." Then _H__e_ vanished.

"I'm a WHAT!?" What had _H__e_ just said? Granted he had instantly trusted _Him_ for reasons that escaped him. Just that if he had decided to do something stupid he was also sure he could have taken him.

Suddenly Rick saw his own hand; it was white and glowing softly. Then his arm, followed by his legs, body, and… "NO WAY! I HAVE _WINGS!?"_ Not just any wings, either. They were huge and they were white. Did that mean…? Suddenly he found he was flapping them and then… "I'M FLYING!" This was so incredibly cool!

He wasn't just flying, he was incredibly fast while flying. He didn't hear any sonic boom, but he just had to have made one. …Or more than one.

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That had been a couple of years ago. Rick remembered the very first girl he'd rescued. He hadn't stuck around after taking her home to her parents who hadn't seen her in a very long time. He also didn't stick around for any of the thank yous. And he wasn't there to make sure her homecoming went well or after she was home. She had her life back and what she did with it was all on her.

He was presently on his mission to find the last girl. He had learned over time that if he concentrated hard enough he knew exactly where they were. A few had been easy to reach. They were locked up in a room all to themselves. He simply swooped in, picked them up, and took them home.

Others lived in what could only be described as a harem. A few girls all shared the same room. Catching those girls alone had proven to be more of a challenge. He was only supposed to allow the girl he was saving to see him, so he had been forced to bide his time.

However, he was down to his last girl, thankfully. He even knew how long she had been there and prayed that it hadn't been too long for her.

He really hadn't paid any attention on just where on Earth any of them had been taken to since where their real home was was all that really mattered. This one, since she was his last one, was located in Thailand. That in itself didn't really mean anything to him; it was just another place.

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_This section is not for the faint of heart. It involves a topic that not everyone is going to be comfortable with._

_**Reader discretion is very strongly advised!**_

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Thanks to having done this a few times he knew how to do this now. He watched from a distance until the outside area was all clear and then glided in. While flapping his wings was mostly silent, it still made a little bit of sound and he didn't need to start making mistakes now.

He glided in and landed very softly. There was a window and though the blinds were closed the window itself was open. He knew the mere movement of a finger could solve that problem. Then he heard a voice which told him that she wasn't alone.

"Are you ready to be fucked, slut?" a male voice asked.

"Yes, Master, I need to be fucked so badly." Rick heard her voice and he knew that she was telling the truth. She really did want to be fucked.

"Where do you want to be fucked, slut?" the first voice asked her.

"Anywhere, Master. My pussy and my ass need to be fucked, Master." Rick could detect that she was actually begging to be fucked.

"Both cocks in your pussy or both in your ass?" the second voice asked her.

She immediately replied, "Yes, Master! Whatever pleases you, Master." By the tone of her voice she really did want both cocks in either location at the same time.

Rick turned around and tried to close his ears. It didn't prevent him from hearing some of it, though. He just knew some of this was going to be burned into his brain forever.

He listened to her whimper, moan, and finally scream out her first orgasm. He also had to listen to the second man asking if she liked being fucked and being a slut.

"Yes, Master. I'm a slut and love being fucked." Rick squeezed his eyes closed when he knew she wasn't lying.

He wasn't sure what happened next exactly but he was sure based on what was being said one man was either still in her ass or back in her ass, while the other was in her mouth.

He had heard the first man order her to take his cock down her throat. He'd also heard her gagging on his cock. "You're a good cocksucking slut, aren't you, slut?" the first man had asked her.

"Yes, Master." She had answered truthfully. He wasn't entirely sure since her mouth was full but he thought she had orgasmed yet again but had her scream silenced.

He had no choice but to keep waiting as none of them were done yet. He listened to still more questions about her being a slut and if she loved being a slut. Then it got worse. The first man was happy and done except she begged him to fuck her since he had done nothing.

So Rick had to keep waiting as she gave him a blowjob and listened to her choking on his cock.

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_It is now safe to go back to reading if you have scrolled down to this point of the story._

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It had been a first for Rick. None of the other girls had acted like this one. All of the others had been happy to escape. He feared he might be too late for this one. It sounded like she had already been turned and wanted to be used. Addicted to sex, more sex, and still more sex. Maybe it was because she had no idea what love really was and was now confused that sex itself was love. It was all she really knew. It might be too late for her but he wasn't there to save her from continuing what she was doing. He was there to rescue her and take her home.

What she did with her life after that was her business.

The second she was alone which happened to coincide with her being asleep. He went into the room scooped her up and took her home to her parents and left her there. He had stayed only long enough for her parents to suddenly find her. "It's a miracle!" Her mother had started crying that her daughter was finally home.

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It had been at least a year and Rick had spent all of it back where he'd been to begin with – in his forest. It had also been a very lonely year since he inhabited his forest all alone. Of all the girls he had worried over it was the last one. It might have been too late of her. He never really considered that she was destined to be a slut addicted to sex no matter who or where she was.

Suddenly he was no longer alone. "Richard Castle."

"_My Lord_ !" Rick bowed to recognize that _He_ was in charge. He was _God_ after all. "How may I serve _You_ ?" The last time he had seen him he had a job for him so it was logical to assume he had another job for him.

"I have another task for you. This one is going to be far more challenging. You could potentially lose your life forever," _He _ warned him.

"Tell me more, _Lord."_ Rick was in. The risks only meant it was worth so much more and the potential for saving lives had to be greater since the risk for even an Angel was made clear.

"There is a great risk to the humans of Earth. For the moment it's confined to New York City. A city you know well."

"I did at one time, _Lord,_ but depending on just when in time this takes place I might not know it all that well any longer." Rick thought it might not be that simple.

"The year is 2012. I believe you'll fit right in." _God_ still liked him for this job. "A race has made its way to Earth and they are a threat to every human on the planet." It was possible that it might mean the end of the entire planet and all the other planets in the system. _He_ would have to start from scratch again.

_He_ gave him the same restriction as before. "Save them but be not seen. But this time you will be given the power to switch between being an Angel and an ordinary human." It told Rick that he could travel the city and be seen.

_God _ brought in one of them so Rick could see for himself what he was up against.

"But they're just statues," Rick protested, not really believing a word. Statues weren't a threat to anyone.

"Only when you see them," _God_ replied. "They're lonely assassins. No one really knows quite where they came from, but they're as old as the universe, or very nearly. And they have the perfect defense system ever evolved. Quantum locked. They don't exist when they're being observed. The moment they're seen by any other living creature they freeze into rock. It's a fact of their biology. Any living thing sees them, they literally turn to stone. You can't kill a stone. Of course a stone can't kill you either, but then you turn your head away. Then you blink and yes, it can. That's why they cover their eyes. They can't risk looking at each other. Their greatest asset is their greatest curse. They can never be seen. Loneliest creatures in the universe.

"Technically they don't kill you. When they touch you they send you back in time to a point where your normal lifespan will not intersect with your life in that previous time frame. They feed off of the life energy that your original life would have had. They effectively feed off of time itself. The greater the future time of the person they feed on the more energy they get." Did he understand what _H__e_ was telling him?

Rick thought about it. "Time." Who had the most amount of time? Only God himself really knew the answer to that question. You could live to be 108 or die when you were born. "BABIES!" Babies had their entire lives in front of them.

_God_ only smiled. _He_ was proven right about Rick yet again. "You will do well." _He_ did have a warning for him. "There is a problem that you will have to deal with."

Rick was ready to groan again. Of course it wasn't that simple. There had to be a catch.

"My greatest Angel turned on me and became Lucifer. His hatred of the human race is limitless. He will learn of this threat as I have and will decide to capitalize on the situation. What he will do even I don't know. You will need to be wary of what he does." It was the strongest warning _He_ could give him.

"I don't have the power to deal with him, _Lord._ Only you have that power. But I will keep my eyes open. I will not fail you." He couldn't since it sounded like the entire race or maybe the entire planet's future was in his hands.

"Don't blink, don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They're fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and DON'T BLINK! …Good luck." _God_ vanished in the blink of an eye.

_He_ left Rick standing there with one of them there before him with its hands over its eyes. It was his first problem and his first test before he even made it back to Earth.


	4. Chapter 4

**It's about Time**

_Chapter4_

Kate had no idea where she was. It was hot but not overly so and all she saw was a lot of beige-colored land. It wasn't exactly sand since she was presently standing on some of it. It was more rock than sand. She could see green in the distance that she took to be trees but most of them were scattered. At the moment she was on an elevated area. She also didn't see anyone.

Though that wasn't completely correct, she saw _something_ but it was white, besides looking really large as far as she could tell. First she had to get to it since it was down there.

It took her over an hour she estimated based on the movement of the sun. But she was finally reaching it. "WOW!" Now that she was here it really was big, like really big.

There was a head that was several times her size that just happened to be filled with teeth. Massive leg bones for all four limbs. Huge ribs but there was something that didn't make sense to her. "Are these wings?" They looked to be enormous based on her size. "This thing could fly?" It had to be hundreds of feet long easily. Then she found the tail. It only made it that much bigger.

"What the hell is this thing?" She was impressed with its size even if it did look like it had been dead for a very long time.

"Appropriate chose of words," a new voice called out. Immediately on guard, she turned to look and was ready to defend herself. It was a man. Maybe six feet tall if that. He wasn't bald but his hair was cut really close. He wasn't even remotely handsome though not totally ugly. He was dressed simply.

"Who are you?" She didn't recognize him and she remembered everyone she had ever met.

He chose to ignore her question for now. "It's a dragon. A red dragon to be precise. This one has been dead for thousands of years." He patted one of the bones as if he knew personally who it had been.

"Dragons don't exist, have never existed," Kate stated flatly. Dragons were only in movies and fantasy books.

"So certain of that, are you? What little you know, young one, so very little." He was going to fix that because he had plans for her. She just might be the one so he was going to test her first.

"Who are you again?" He hadn't yet answered her question.

"Your Master, young one."

Kate snorted in derision. "I have no master. I'm not your slut, now go away before you get hurt." She was sure she could take him if she had to, if he gave her cause to show him.

He moved so fast that she never actually saw him twitch so much as a muscle. Suddenly he had a very firm hold on one of her arms. Then right after blinking a couple times to make sure it was him that hold of her she felt the air rushing against her as the background blurred badly.

Then they stopped. They were next to a river, only this river was bubbling and was a dirty green color. "I most definitely am your Master, young one. My real name is known by only a few and most of those are dead. Permanently dead. You know me as Lucifer, Satan, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, or just plain The Devil. I rule this land that you now reside in and you will do as I command.

"That or you can cross that river and stay on the island in Limbo until the end of time itself. Your choice." This was her only out that he was going to offer. If she didn't cross she belonged to him.

Kate looked at him closely. He didn't look anything like she imagined he would, if indeed he was who he said he was. Still how she had gotten here or even here here was something she couldn't explain.

"Say I believe you, which I don't, what do you want of me? I'm not overly important. I'm a nobody." She wasn't famous and if she was actually in Hell it meant she'd died which also meant she had failed.

"Oh, Katherine Houghton Beckett, I think you are capable of much. So long as you serve me. You served your German masters before but now you will serve me. Or you can go across the river." He left off the word decide and he meant to, but Kate heard it loud and clear.

Still she needed information. "And if I reject both those choices?" She knew she wasn't crossing the river if what he had told her was the truth. It was well known that the Devil could lie very convincingly, after all.

"Then you can spend the rest of time suffering ever increasing pain until your mind finally snaps long before you body gives up."

"Swell." Serve the Devil himself, go into Limbo until time itself came to an end, or let him torture her until her mind snapped. Hell of a choice. But then if she was in Hell, that was kind of the point, wasn't it?

"This doesn't look like Hell to me." It should be incredibly hot. Like suffering hot that should melt her body in an instant. A place with volcanoes and rivers of lava. Filled with demons that want to rip her apart and eat her alive.

Lucifer began to truly believe that she just might be the one. Any stupid evil person like some of those idiot mass murderers had instantly believed that he was indeed the Devil. Kate was still questioning him even though she knew what he could do to her.

He grabbed hold of her arm and he took her to Hell so she could see for herself.

Kate felt air hitting her and the background was totally blurred. When they stopped she could barely breathe. Every breath burned her throat and her lungs. After just one breath she held her breath and tried desperately not to breathe again. She also saw exactly what she expected Hell to look like.

There were numerous volcanoes spewing out smoke and lava balls that landed everywhere. She saw at least two rivers of lava and she saw creatures she'd never seen before running, hopping, and even flying.

Then suddenly she felt air rushing against her body and the background blurred yet again until she was right back where she'd been, standing next to the bones of what she had been told was a dragon.

Lucifer was again satisfied with her. She had clearly taken in a breath and found that it was not a hospitable place for her. …YET! She had also stopped breathing as she took in everything and processed it.

He didn't say a thing and simply looked at her, biding his time.

She was obviously dead, she had worked out that much. She really couldn't explain how he'd done what he had done. She had no idea where she even was or when in time she was located.

Still she knew she had no real choice, for now at least. "What do you want of me and why me?" Before she agreed she needed to know what he wanted.

Lucifer tilted his head, studying her, and said, "Why you? You are here because you are willing to kill. An act of evil by the way. Your last act resulted in the death of six people, one of which you killed by hand, and injured seven children and one adult who will never walk again. One of the dead was a five-year-old child that you didn't even blink about risking his life for your own."

Kate really only knew of the one death and none of the others. Regardless, their deaths meant very little to her. Her life was far more important than theirs.

"As for what I want we'll get to that. First I want you to meet someone." He grabbed her arm again and Kate felt the rush of air against her body. The background blurred so badly that she couldn't make out anything yet again. Until they stopped.

He moved his arm in a flourish, pointing at…something. "This is the last person that tried to be what she could be. She failed miserably. You may succeed, but first I need to make sure you are worthy so I have a test for you."

Kate looked at what she saw. It was definitely a person, or at least it used to be. There were no longer any bones. All she saw was the dust of what used to be a person. It looked like the body was actually burnt into the rock. Or maybe it was a ghost of a person embedded into the rock.

It told Kate that if she failed his test this was what was going to happen to her. Still she was already dead and it sounded like her future was even worse than death no matter what she did. She was doomed, unless she succeeded. It really only left her one choice whether she liked it or not.

"What do you want of me? What do you want me to do?" Kate would do it.

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The wind hit her body and the background blurred then it suddenly all stopped.

"In that house are two people, well three really but you only care about two of them. First there is Professor Tim McClellan. He works in a laboratory that is working with anthrax. You are to make sure he has an accident with the anthrax while working in his lab so that it exposes everyone in the building to it," Lucifer commanded.

Kate's brow furrowed as she thought. She really didn't know what anthrax was but knowing him it was deadly dangerous. Meaning when it was released it would be best if she wasn't in the building at the time. She had already died once.

"The other person is Amanda McClellan. She's twenty-six now, however when she was twenty-one she was captured and sold to a man in Thailand. When she was there he became her master and she was his slut. Then along came one of God's Angels to rescue her. Your job is to reintroduce her to the life of being a slut again. Now get to work." Lucifer vanished in a cloud reeking of brimstone.

"Angels?" Then she answered her own question. Of course there were Angels. If there was a Lucifer it only stood to reason that there was a God who had Angels. Now she had her first problem. She didn't know where his lab was and she didn't know where either of them were now. So she stayed hidden and watched.

The first to come out was the girl. She was about average height, short blonde hair that was cut really short in back, a nice body, and rather pretty. She went to the mailbox, took out the mail, and went back inside again.

Since she knew where one of them was she left to go implement her plan for the girl that she had created while she had been waiting.

She didn't know how but she knew just where to go to find them. It was a house that in this case needed a fair amount of help. Nothing like the house the girl and the man lived in. Still she was betting they would go for it so she knocked.

"Gentlemen, I have a proposition for you." She knew they would like it but first she had to get them to listen.

"We've got a proposition for you, too, bitch." Their response was all Kate needed to hear. It took a few minutes but she was the only one standing while the four guys that were in the house were lying on the floor moaning. They didn't have any broken bones but more than one was going to be talking soprano for a few hours.

Kate arched an eyebrow. "Are you gentlemen willing to listen now? Or should I explain the facts of life to you yet again?"

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They had a car but Kate wanted them to walk so there they all were outside of the house.

"Inside is a lovely, white, twenty-six year old woman who a few years ago used to be a slut that served her master faithfully. She did everything he ordered her to do. Fucked everyone she was told to. Then she was rescued and hasn't been very happy ever since. Your task is to go inside when she's all alone and make her your slut at your place.

"You BOYS think you can handle that? Or should I find a different gang? And if one of you BOYS even thinks I should join her I'm going to explain the facts of life to you yet again then find another gang that could really use a slut of their own." Kate glared at the four of them.

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Kate had left the four of them to plan when they should pick up their very own slut for their gang. She tried to ignore overhearing who was going to be first and whether her pussy or her ass was first. "Both at the same time, BOYS!" Kate called over her shoulder and kept walking.

While she liked sex as much as any woman, well maybe not as much as Amanda possibly, she preferred men to have sex with not BOYS who thought they were the best thing since sliced bread.

She had actually thought it was going to be harder to convince these lowlifes that they needed a slut for their gang and that she knew just the girl for them. Apparently explaining things to BOYS was easier than she'd thought. A REAL man would have been much harder. Though even all the supposed men she had met so far acted more like BOYS. Flash a little tit and they would all stumble all over themselves.

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The girl was still home she noticed as she staked out the house to watch the man come and go and work out where exactly he worked and when. His routine was like clockwork. Always left at the same time, got on his bicycle and rode for a few short miles, then took his bike inside. Day after day he never changed. What she never saw, though, was a wife. It was just him and his daughter. It told her that for him to be all alone and convince his young daughter that she wasn't a slut, when she clearly was, meant he was a real force.

She still had no idea what anthrax was, however, if Lucifer was involved it was a good bet that it was deadly when encountered. He'd die from an accident along with anyone else in the building while his daughter would return to being a slut.

She didn't have a problem with that in the least. If it got her out of Hell, she was all for it.

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She had worked out that his building required a code to enter so each day she got a number until she had all of them. Then when the building was empty she entered it on her own using the numbers she'd learned.

Thankfully none of the interior doors had locks. Unfortunately where they stored all of the chemicals was locked and she still didn't have any of her tools to open them. Still she had a plan.

She rigged three things to fail. She really didn't know what he did in there though she was betting the anthrax would be inside some glass. So if someone accidentally broke the glass it would release it and fill the space. Except to get it out of the tiny enclosed space meant there had to be another accident.

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Now that she was done she needed to find another restaurant that was closed for the evening. For the days that she was there she had chosen a restaurant to break into and use their kitchen to make dinner with. Her mother had taught her how to cook and she thought she was pretty good at it, so she wasn't starving during this task.

"You can cook," Lucifer remarked when he appeared.

"You almost sound surprised. …I'm only cooking for one so if you want something you're going to have to do it yourself." Kate went back to finishing what she was making.

Lucifer flashed a moment of anger. No one, literally no one, talked to him like that. Then it hit him, she was testing him. It had him chuckling instead.

"You did well, Katherine Houghton Beckett. The lab is filled with anthrax that is going to take them a long time to figure out how to get inside of. The girl is relearning what it is to be a slut." He was happy. The men and women inside the lab were dead and the girl had already serviced every member of the gang at least once. What happened once she was pregnant wasn't his concern.

"Time to go home." The Lord of the Underworld had things to do.

"Right after I finish cooking and eating." She wanted to enjoy this before going back to Hell.

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Kate was back in the desert again. Like before there were hills, mountains in the distance, and trees, if you could call them trees. What she didn't see was water. She really had no idea how long she had been there. She wasn't hungry and she wasn't thirsty. But she was really, really bored.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett." Kate heard his voice, turned to look, and saw Lucifer standing there.

"Where the hell have you been?" She was bored and she was mad. "Let me rephrase that." They were both in Hell. "It's about time you showed up, I'm bored." Being in Hell was, well it was like being in Hell.

"Good since I have a task for you. However, this one is going to be a real challenge for you." Lucifer proceeded to explain everything. "There is an alien race on Earth and they are new, only just arrived. No one really knows quite where they came from, but they're as old as the universe or very nearly. And they have the perfect defense system ever evolved. Quantum locked. They don't exist when they are being observed. The moment they are seen by any other living creature they freeze into rock. It's a fact of their biology. Any living thing, they literally turn to stone and you can't kill a stone. Of course a stone can't kill you either, but then you turn your head away. Then you blink and yes it can. That's why they cover their eyes. They can't risk looking at each other. Their greatest asset is their greatest curse. They can never be seen.

"Your task is to assist them in destroying humans on Earth. Each human they touch gets sent back into the past. They then feed off of the energy of time that that life would have had. The more they feed the stronger they will get."

Kate thought she was following. "Live statues except for when someone, anyone, sees them. Then they turn to stone." Except she instantly saw a problem with his plan. "I'm human, they touch me and I go back in time to where they aren't." This task was impossible.

"If you were always human, I would agree but you won't be. Human, that is." Lucifer wound up, concentrated, then fired something at her that hit her solidly. Kate screamed from the pain. It was almost enough to render her unconscious, it was that bad.

The pain eventually subsided. "What the hell did you do?!" She was pissed at him and pointed at him. But when she did all she really saw was that her arm, hand, and fingers were all on fire. Lots of fire. Except that it didn't hurt. Then she looked at more of her and saw that all of her was on fire. She didn't have a mirror but she could just bet her hair was on fire, too.

"What did you do?" She was going to stand out like a sore thumb looking like this.

"Now you are one of my minions, Dark Phoenix. You are commanded to accomplish your task. Just remember: don't blink, don't even blink. Blink and you are dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away and DON'T BLINK!" Lucifer vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Don't blink? HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THERE!?" He had just up and left her here. "MEN, TYPICAL!" It had her going back to looking at herself and all she saw was fire. The madder she got at him for leaving her here only caused the fire to increase in strength.

"What do you expect me to do? Fly there?" Then suddenly her peripheral vision she saw more fire. She did her best to twist around to see. "I have wings!?" They were totally fire but shaped like wings and they were big. "I HAVE WINGS!"

She decided to see how they worked and soon found herself flying all over the desert area. From slow to really fast. "WOO HOO!"

She landed and looked around. "What else can I do?" She was living flame but could she shoot fire? After a number of tries and tests she could shoot a line of fire. A fan of fire and even shoot balls of fire. "COOL, I'm a hot babe! …This still doesn't explain how I get there!" Kate growled. "MEN!" They were all the same.


	5. Chapter 5

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 5_

Rick had arrived and stepped out of the shadows, looking like any other human on the planet. He didn't see any statues hiding their eyes, however he did see a whole lot of people. He also saw a lot of cars that he didn't recognize. Granted most of them were yellow and said TAXI, but still none of them had the shape he was familiar with.

He also didn't see any of the clothes that he was used to seeing, either. He was definitely not dressed appropriately for the time period. _God_ might think that he knew New York City, but this city was, so far, very different looking. It even smelled different. A little more dirty and definitely smellier unless that was his Angel nose detecting everything.

Rick might not know it since _God_ didn't explain it to him, but he may look human now, but not all of him was still human. That is to say all of his senses were enhanced and his body could resist serious damage like say, during a fight. He could also change to looking like an Angel in a heartbeat.

He'd already learned one more thing: he didn't need to eat food. He could eat but didn't need to. The same was for water. He only needed to learn if that held when he looked like a human.

Since this sounded like it was going to be a long, involved task he needed to find somewhere to stay. He needed a place to live while he helped the humans. Fortunately being an Angel he just kind of knew of a place that would work. The person offering the room was definitely a really good person.

He didn't even need to go all that far to reach it, 536 West 29th Street. It looked a little old and slightly rundown on the outside and it had a massive construction project right next door. In fact the sidewalk was closed off because of it and even the street was one way out in front of that project. It looked to have four floors which meant stairs but that was fine, he was more than fit enough to go up and down stairs.

It was a beige brick building that sported a pair of large double doors on the street level though it was obvious that the front door was up a short set of stairs. At first he knocked until he risked it and pressed a button that resulted in a sound being made. "Interesting." He didn't know it did that. It sounded like a song instead of the ding-dong he was used to hearing.

He waited and waited until someone finally opened the door. She was older, maybe in her late 50s he was thinking, even though he suddenly knew exactly when she was born. She was still lovely if not a little on the thin side.

"Yes?" She immediately liked the look of him. He had broad shoulders, was handsome, and he was smiling widely which put her instantly at ease.

"My name is Richard Castle, ma'am. I'm answering an ad about a room to rent."

"That was fast. I only just placed it." It had taken her months to even come to the realization that if she was going to keep the place she needed help. Not just a roommate but someone to give her real help.

"I only have the one space and it isn't just a room for rent. You'll need to help keep up the entire house." She'd made sure that was clearly stated in the ad.

"I'm more than willing to help clean the entire house. I even have a green thumb. I can get anything to grow," Rick told her truthfully. It was the Angel in him that gave him a green thumb.

"You're aware of the rental terms?" She wanted to be sure before she invited him inside her home so he could see his space and then the entire house.

Rick nodded. "Three thousand a month including all utilities and the room comes furnished. I help clean, share the kitchen and the living room, and must vacate any space when requested for any reason. I understand completely."

"I'll show you the room first." She stepped aside and let him in, then closed and locked the door behind him. "Down the stairs." She went first through a door. "These doors are part of the original building. My late husband and I loved them so we kept them even if they don't serve much purpose."

Rick saw that they weren't just locked but they were heavily barred from the inside. A simple lock pick wasn't going to get anyone through those doors, that was certain. Then he followed her down a set of stairs that led into the house.

"The bathroom is back there. This door leads to a storage room that's full. These double doors lead to what would be your space." She opened them and Rick noticed that they could be locked if he chose to do so.

"OH, MY!" He knew it was a room, but this was a ROOM!

"Technically this is the basement so the only windows are the one ones at the far end." That was a negative for the space.

Rick looked around and found that the ceiling was old with existing wood beams and joists. The beams on either side of the space were large and had some type of metal rods that each had a large turnbuckle that were obviously being used to hold the outside walls in place. The ceiling was easily eighteen feet tall.

The floor was plain polished concrete and the space was maybe twenty-one feet wide by forty feet long. There was a simple seating area and a dining room table that could seat four. He saw short partitions that were lovely and found that they hid the bedroom with an exposed closet.

Beyond that was another seating area that was filled with books. "You like to read." He would look them all over later.

She shrugged. "I needed a place to store some of them. There's a real library on another level. These stairs lead to the only outdoor garden space I have." She went up first and unlocked the door and went outside. "I don't have a green thumb. Even having this space in downtown was amazing even if it is a little difficult to reach. It was one more reason for us to purchase this place."

Rick saw a few dead plants. Most of those were in pots. The plants that weren't in pots were seriously overgrown and there were weeds everywhere. "I can work with this. I'll have it looking amazing in no time."

It was surrounded by tall walls, one of which had windows on three levels. And it was open above. There were pavers mostly with a small green patch that was a mess. Though even the pavers were heaving up, weren't level, and were filled with weeds.

"If you can fix this you'd be a miracle worker." She thought it was a write-off.

"A little paint on the walls would help this space a lot," Rick remarked. The walls were a dark brown which only made the place more gloomy. "I'll take it. What else is there?"

"One year's rent up front and then renew the following year if you wish."

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She had shown him everything else. They'd had to go back upstairs to the front door and up another set of stairs to the main level. Then through a set of double doors leading out into an atrium that had thirty foot ceilings that were made up of old wood beams and exposed ceiling joists.

There was a huge and intricate skylight in the middle. Her bedroom had the only washer and dryer just outside of it on this level. Going up a level, another set of stairs opened out onto a small sitting area and an open kitchen that had very little storage, save for a tall cabinet up against one wall that was the pantry. Over the kitchen and dining room was yet another skylight just like the other one. Off of the dining room out a wall of windows was a small terrace that had a table and seating for four. Under it was the outdoor patio area Rick had already seen.

The side walls of the atrium level and this area were exposed brick. Up another set of stairs led to a small library with one wall of windows that looked out onto the street. Its two side walls were filled with books from floor to roof.

She was a little taken aback by him paying her in cold hard cash.

Rick knew what had happened but it was just good form to ask her. "Just you? You mentioned your late husband."

"I'm a doctor and I was on call that day. My husband took our daughter out to the Hamptons. On their way home they were involved in an accident. The police told me that their car was hit from behind; they were forced off the road and straight into a tree. It collapsed the entire side of the car, killing my husband instantly. My daughter died on the table after being airlifted to the hospital." She had shed all the tears that she had. Now it was just history though it still hurt.

"I am sincerely sorry for your loss. I'm sure they're in the hands of _God._ _He_ has a plan even if we mere mortals don't understand it. We are all a part of his plan. _God_ forgives everyone." Even the person who had caused the crash.

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Mr. Castle. Here are the keys. I'll leave any mail you receive on the table by the front door. I use the washer and dryer only during the weekend unless I absolutely need to during a weekday. Please purchase your own food and use whatever space you need in the refrigerator and pantry. Be sure and clean up after yourself. Most of the cleaning supplies are downstairs in one of the storage closets. I don't have a car and use taxis or other services for everything, including getting to the hospital. You're free to read any of the books you wish. I don't believe in watching TV so I don't even have one."

"I'm sure I'll survive. Let me know if there's anything you need. An escort to the hospital, help with grocery shopping, help with anything around the house. A roof leak, water heater, A/C unit, anything. I'm your man," Rick said.

"I didn't know you were so handy. What is it you do?" He had yet to sign anything so she could still reject him if she wanted.

Rick was ready for this question since he was going to be a human for much of the time and needed a job. Or at least to look like he had a job. "I'm a law enforcement consultant. Typically the FBI, however, I do things for the police as well from time to time. I'm technically a contractor so I'm not actually employed by them. I don't carry a weapon nor can I actually arrest anyone. Mostly I just sit in an office or closet more often than not." Rick chuckled at his white lie, since before being assigned to his last undercover job he had done just that. "I analyze any case they need help with. It's not overly exciting and the pay is good if not a little iffy from time to time." He wasn't lying about being stuck in a closet.

"So there may be times when I never actually need to leave the house unless they have a case for me." Rick had every intention of going out each and every day since that was where he would be needed most. Plus he had to create a mental map of where they all were. He was hoping that finding them would be easy since they would all have their hands over their eyes most of the time.

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Rick really wanted to get to work straight away since the longer he took to get started the more potential there was for a human to be touched. But he needed things. Clothes mostly since as a human he was going to be needing them. He also needed to go grocery shopping.

Even after clothes shopping his exposed clothes rack looked a little bare. Even his little chest of drawers that came with the room was half empty. If he needed more he would simply go purchase more. That was one thing about being an Angel. He could if he wanted talk any of the humans into almost anything. Including letting him walk out with an armful of clothes and not pay for them. It was just that that would be stealing which was a sin. Though he could just produce his own money. He wasn't stealing from anywhere; he created it and handed it over.

Unloading his groceries showed him just how different this kitchen really was. The exhaust for the hood over the range was exposed for over twenty feet until it reached the roof and was strapped to the brick wall. There were no upper cabinets of any kind. It was in the shape of an "L" and had an island where the sink was located. Nearly everything was in the sizable pantry cabinet up against the brick wall.

"Are you finding enough space?" Janelle asked him after seeing him in the kitchen, putting stuff away.

"More than enough, thank you. I tend to eat out a lot so cooking is likely one of the things I'll be doing little of. Of course it would help if I knew how to cook. Mostly I just get by with simple things. Do you have a grill I could use?" That was something he knew how to do.

"I'm afraid not, but if you really want to you can add a small one on the patio." She still didn't see how he was going to clean up that disaster. Even if he could it would take months.

"Thank you. I promise not to make a mess." Then he noticed she was dressed in what he believed were clothes for hospital work. "You're going out."

"I have a shift today. I'll be back very late. I'll be nice and quiet." Her bedroom was right over his even if his was over twenty feet below hers.

"It's your house, make all the noise you wish. Do you need an escort to the hospital? New York City can occasionally be a dangerous place to live and get around in." He would take her anywhere she wanted to go.

"I'm fine. A taxi right out front will take me to the entrance, but thank you. Good luck with whatever you do today." His work sounded more dangerous than hers did.

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Rick sat in the living room trying to think up a plan. New York City was really big and yes, he could turn into an Angel and fly to search it. It was just that he didn't need people seeing him and telling the press, friends, police, Air Force, whoever.

She didn't have a TV but she did have a paper delivered daily and she had a few magazine subscriptions. Through them Rick got an idea and was soon using her phone to make a local phone call.

His new plan didn't take him everywhere, but it was a start.

It took him a little time but he was now leaving the site with a three day hop-on-hop-off sightseeing tour of New York City. He would start his search using this system tomorrow. After he had used up a few of these passes he would change his search parameters to a new system that he hadn't yet thought of.

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The tour started early in the day and Rick had gotten on and off a number of times so far. Now it was past lunch and he was actually starting to get hungry. Yet he hadn't yet seen any statues with their hands over their eyes. It was only the first day and he didn't want to doubt _God,_ but where were all these aliens?

Rick was off the bus and decided to start looking for a place to eat when he saw a statue. Sure he had seen several already on this tour. It was just that all of them, like this one, didn't have their hands over their eyes. Most in fact were dedicated to something or someone and clearly not out of place.

Then just past one statue he saw several others so he made his way to the entrance. "Battery Park. …A park?" Had he been looking in all the wrong places? A park suddenly made sense. The park was usually only inhabited during the day unless you had ulterior motives like a murder, or a drug deal, or some other thing just as evil.

He had only been in the park for a few minutes when he spotted one. It was standing there just off of the sidewalk. It was easily a little over six feet tall. It had wings that it had in close to its body and most importantly it had its hands over its eyes.

This one looked to be a female. It had breasts and it was wearing a Grecian-style gown that was drawn at the waist with a belt that he couldn't see. It fell all the way to its feet that he couldn't see. Its wings were not as large as his. Its hair was up in a way that he couldn't see. It was also intricately carved. Every line of hair on its head was shown. The feathers of its wings were carved out perfectly. Thanks to its hands being over its face he couldn't see its face.

He walked all around it and looked it over while remembering to not blink. Not blinking was going to be a challenge that he was going to need to solve. Thankfully the park was busy so even if they didn't actively look at it, people could see it.

"One down." Now he needed a plan on how to deal with it. Provided it was still there when he came back when he had one.

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It was five o'clock and he was starving since he hadn't stopped to eat anything. After finding his first one in the park he'd kept looking and had found four more. The funny thing was that as far as he could tell, they all looked the same. He thought the were all female, all wore the same thing, all had their hair up with their hands over their face, hiding their eyes.

All of them were standing on grass just an inch off of the concrete of the walkway.

"They can't be seen and they can't ever look each other in the eye. Hm, mirrors maybe?" But how did he put a mirror in their hands when their hands were covering their eyes. Maybe… He had another idea. It meant he had to either find them and buy them or have them made.

If there were five of them in this park alone, he was going to need a lot of them. He also needed to find a way to keep living eyes on them since he was going to need the time to use them. And he needed a very special gun and the bolts that they shot.

_God_ had said they were fast but _H__e_ hadn't said anything about how strong they were.

Then Rick smiled. He had thought up a plan for them to be watched while he did his work. His job was to help keep the humans from being touched. That didn't mean he had to kill them. Though could you really kill a statue?

It had him shaking his head. It was alive and only stone when it was being observed. Killing was a sin and he knew that when it wasn't stone, it was alive. "Nothing like a challenge, _Lord._ A real challenge."

A short video showing the Weeping Angels

www DOT youtube DOT com SLASH watch QUESTION MARK v EQUAL SIGN ByPrDPbdRhc


	6. Chapter 6

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 6_

Kate flew in and landed on what looked to be a dark dock area of a city. Since being on fire was rather obvious to the naked eye she became human again. "That was different but way cool!" Her new form was really something.

First she had to figure out just where she was so she started to look around and spotted something straight away. "The Statue of Liberty? …I'm in New York. Why couldn't they have invaded Berlin?" Why did she have to spend time in the United States? "On second thought, yes, invade America." It meant her beloved city and country were not presently in trouble.

"I need a place to live." First she needed to get off the dock and into the city. Since she knew she didn't have any money she was going to have to take everything which was fine with her. There had to be a rich decadent couple or family somewhere close by from whom that she could take their home.

Getting off the docks was turning out to be a bit of a pain. It was like walking in a maze; the second she made what she thought was the correct turn, it turned out to be the wrong one. Then things went even more off the rails the second she reached the gate that in this case was locked.

"What are you doing, Miss?" the guy in uniform with a flashlight in one hand and his other hand on his weapon asked. Not far away was a mostly white car that had NYPD in big blue letters on the side.

"Looking for you since you have a car," Kate replied as she shifted into Dark Phoenix and raised a hand just as he started to pull his weapon. However, he was far too slow as five fire darts hit him squarely in the chest and came through his back. He stood there for a moment before collapsing to the ground. Kate walked to the gate, melted the lock, and shifted back to her human form, pulling the gate open. "Thank you for the car." She left his dead body lying there along with his weapon and flashlight that was still on, shining out into the night.

Getting in was easy. It was just after she sat down that things became more of a challenge. She was used to cars but those cars were from the 1940s. This car didn't look anything like them. It was full of buttons and had dials all over it, it seemed. At least the basics were still there.

"Keys?" They weren't in the ignition. She groaned as she got back out to search the dead man's body. "HA!" They were in his right pocket which was her first guess.

Starting the car was straight forward, seat belt was different and so was turning on the headlights. Putting it into gear was more familiar but there was no clutch. She was curious about what the thing was that was on a tray to her right. When she lifted it up she found what sort of resembled a typewriter's keyboard then a screen came to life. "What the hell is this thing?"

Then she saw something tiny in one of the corners. "May 12, 2012. _**2012!**__" _ She hadn't really gotten all that far and put her foot on the brake. She looked first at the ceiling then at the floor. "YOU COULD HAVE FUCKING TOLD ME! …AND WHO WON THE DAMN WAR?"

She was back to groaning but she was also back to driving. Actually driving was the same as was getting around. Stop at the red lights and go at the green ones. She also spent some time looking around all over for a nice place to live while she accomplished her task.

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Kate had abandoned the stolen car in some side alley and had begun walking. She needed something that she could reach easily and get rid of the owners with ease as well. Since it was still dark outside, seeing places was a little difficult.

She was on East 61st street and thought she saw something so she entered an alley, hid behind a dumpster, and changed forms then flew up to it. It was likely someone saw a dash of fire going up but what could they do about it?

She landed and became human once again. It was an outdoor patio area that had a large seating area that looked really nice. There was also a small dining table that seated four. Looking in through the wall of windows to the interior told her that she hated it.

While the floors were really dark, the walls and ceiling were white as was the fireplace. Even most of the seating was white. She was tempted to just burn it all down for being so ugly. The entire place had no soul. She shifted forms and flew back down, only this time she went a lot farther down before landing.

She was still walking when she spotted another option. Since it was really late she just stepped off the street, shifted, and flew up.

The wall around the outside space was all wood slats that was kind of orange in color. There was seating for six using wicker chairs, a dining table that seated eight, and two lounge chairs to just lie on and soak up some sun.

She found what she took to be a BBQ grill, however it was the all glass room piqued her interest. Inside was a small table that seated four people but it was the old dirty-looking long cabinet that held her interest. Red curtains and blue curtains could be pulled to enclose the space. Save for the glass roof.

So far it was a real mishmash of things that didn't really go with everything else. That was the part that she liked most.

Deeper inside the glass room was a large seating area. It had a large, white, L-shaped sofa and two orange chairs. "What's this?" It was behind the seating and it was all glass and open. "Open to below. …Interesting." There was also another set of glass doors that went out onto another outside terrace.

Finding the door that went down had her going back to the BBQ area and opening that door.

Going inside only got better. "WOW!" These people had some really peculiar tastes. Two seating areas. One had a fireplace and the other had a horizontal slice of tree with a live edge for a coffee table.

To her left was a tremendous dining room table that seated twelve people. It had two different types and colors of chairs. And there was a skylight directly above the table. The floors were bare wood save for large area rugs.

The walls appeared to be divided into two sections. Though it was all wood to the top of the doors. Above that was a light blue color and the blue area was filled with paintings or posters.

The kitchen to the right had upper cabinets that all had glass fronts showing everything that was inside them. There was an island that had orange-colored stools. A huge refrigerator, double ovens, and something else that she didn't recognize above it. The range was in the island and at first she couldn't figure out where the smoke went until she saw something in the ceiling.

"Nice, I like it. Now to find everyone and make this place mine." She went down a hallway and opened doors.

The first door on the right turned out to be a small room that had a long caramel-colored leather sofa that faced the wall with the entrance door to it. It was facing a large black screen that felt like it was made of glass. It didn't make any sense to her but she could figure it out later. To the right was a little half bath that was really weird. It was dark red and black and had a multicolored bowl sitting on a counter with a faucet that was gold or a bronze color that looked like bamboo. Two of the walls were red and black mini tiles, the cabinet was black, the counter top was a dark gray, and the toilet was black. One wall was wood.

Next on the right was a massive sliding barn door. Opening it revealed a water heater and washer and dryer. At the end of the hallway were two doors. To the right was a bedroom.

This bedroom had a really tall bed that you were going to have to almost climb to get into. It was up against an exposed brick wall and the place was filled with colors, fabrics, and wood. As nice as it was it left her wondering what was behind the other door.

The door on the left was another bedroom. This room had an equally large bed, the colors were mostly shades of red and orange with different types and colors of wood.

The bed had two people in it and they had to go. She started with the man who was closest. She shifted forms, reached out with her fiery hands and grabbed his head, and lifted it up. Kate put all her power into her hands. She watched as his mouth opened but nothing came out. The look of pain was obvious on his face. His head turned to ash quickly and his body fell back down dead. The fire had sealed the neck so no blood escaped. The body was still alive and the heart was still beating.

Kate went around the bed and did the same to the woman who had the same reaction. Still in this form she picked her up and went up and outside to one of the terraces and flew away. She had no real destination in mind so she simply increased her power and felt the woman's body disappear into ash until there was nothing left to hold onto.

She flew back to get the man and got rid of his body using the same method. There weren't any bodies to actually find since they were now ash floating down onto the city.

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Kate had no intention of sleeping on the same sheets that the previous owners had so she chose to sleep in the spare bedroom. After she slept in until almost noon she found out that the bedroom had its own bathroom that it shared with the room with the large black screen.

Since these were her only clothes she chose to strip and figure out how to use the washer and dryer then started to do a more thorough search of her new home while naked.

The woman had a number of clothes that for the most part didn't fit Kate. There were a few things that she could wear, which included most of her shoes. Her panties which actually did fit her were not her style. Her bras didn't begin to fit her. She searched for IDs and money.

She found some cash in his wallet and in her purse. She also found a number of credit cards. So long as no one asked her for her photo ID, that she didn't have, she thought she might be able to use them and simply sign using that woman's name.

Since she was starving by now she began searching the kitchen. She found the pantry was full and so was the refrigerator. There were even some perishables. They must have gone grocery shopping lately which was a good thing. One less thing for her to worry about.

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Kate spent a couple of hours searching the entire place to find everything she might need. She had cash, credit cards, keys and had worked out just what floor she was on. Deciding that she was ready she went down to go shopping for clothes.

"HOLY SHIT! You have to be shitting me! $230! It's just a damn top." She glared thoughts of murder at the sales lady that had come over to see if she needed help. For a second Kate actually considered shifting and burning her into ash. Instead she stormed out of the store and stood outside looking the shop over. "Maybe a late night fire will teach you something."

Kate kept looking and ended up in a vintage clothing store. Everything was used so the cost was at least acceptable, though all of it was really old. Being different didn't bother her so she did some searching and realized that the sales lady was watching her like a hawk. But she also didn't bother her until Kate actually began selecting items. That was when she asked Kate what she was looking for. A bit later, as anticipated, the sales lady took her credit card, watched her sign a name, and let her walk out. Now she had something but she still needed bras, panties, and a few other things. She sighed and kept on searching.

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It took her another two hours to find bras and panties and even a pair of walking shoes. Spending someone else's money was so very easy. If any of the shops had bothered to ask for a photo ID she would have been stopped, but no one did.

Now, though, she was starving and was busy rummaging through the refrigerator for something she could have for dinner. She would worry about where to start her task in the morning. One of the things Lucifer had failed to mention was just how many of them there were. If there were a lot of them they should be easy to find. However, if there were that many of them why did she need to help them? It meant finding them might not be all that easy.

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Kate was standing there with her dinner on her plate. She had her choices of where to eat it. The dining room table that was huge and could seat twelve people. The table inside the glass walls just outside that seated four people. She could go outside and sit. Or she could sit at the breakfast bar. For a house that only had two bedrooms and two bathrooms this place could seat a whole lot of people.

"Where's the TV?" If she was going to catch up to the year 2012 the TV might be helpful. "Maybe that black wall." She went to the room just down the hall.

Once there she put her plate and glass down on the coffee table and moved over to the black wall. It looked to be made of glass but it didn't have any buttons or knobs to turn. No channel numbers to select. She noticed there was a small red light that was constantly lit but pressing it got her nothing. "Who is SONY?" It was the only word on it.

Her dinner was going to get cold before she figured this out so she walked around the coffee table to pick her plate and glass back up. That was when she saw a black device filled with buttons that had the word SONY on it. Next to it was another device that had even more buttons that was more gray in color.

She started with the one that said SONY, picked it up, and sat down on the sofa. Most of it didn't really tell her much. There were the words VOLUME, CHANNEL, and NUMBERS on it. "Power!" Kate pressed it and suddenly the black wall came to life. Except it didn't show her anything nor was there any sound.

She put it down and picked up the other device and looked it over. This device had twice the number of buttons the first one had. "All power." Kate pressed the button at the top and that got her a lot. Suddenly she was watching something called ESPN. "Baseball." She was happy with that and even the sound level was good so she picked up her plate and started eating.

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One team was the New York Mets and from listening the announcers for the game, they had all kinds of reasons why the Mets were losing the game. Something about how they'd missed the Post Season for the past five years and if they kept playing like this they were going to make it six years in a row.

By the seventh inning stretch when someone started singing, Kate had had enough of baseball. The New York Mets were losers and she didn't want to watch and listen to people talking about a loser. That had her picking up the gray device and looked it over.

"Channel arrows." One looked like up and one down so she chose down and got another ESPN channel. Pressing it again and again got her off ESPN channels. Now she was in MLB, NHL, NBA. "Nothing but sports?" There had to be a better way. "What's GUIDE?" Kate pressed it and found the baseball game mostly replaced with a listing of channels on the left and what was presently being shown and when.

Pressing down a number of times got her to see lots of channels. "Just how many channels are there now?" She was already on 231 and it talked about cooking. She found channels that had TNT, TBS, FX, Syfy, Life, LMN, TCM, BBC, A&E, BEST, HIST.

It landed on HIST and she read what was listed. "_Hitler__'s R__ise and __F__all _ How do I get that channel?" She made a note of what the number was and pressed the big OK button and suddenly found she was listening to the history about Hitler.

"WE TOOK FRANCE! WOO HOO!" She even got to see Hitler standing somewhere and looking out onto the Eiffel Tower.

Then something about the Luftwaffe making raids on Britain. "What do you mean we didn't invade? Why the hell not?" She kept watching and learned about today's commercials.

"We invaded RUSSIA? You don't have a battle on two fronts. Hitler isn't that stupid. …Is he?" Kate kept watching and listened to how the attack on Russia went really well. They captured hundred of thousands of Russian solders and lots and lots of ground.

There were three groups: Northern, Central, and Southern. "He stole from Central to help the Southern? WHY? Moscow was right there!" Kate held out both hands at the TV and didn't understand. "Okay, conquering the oil fields, I can understand that. But what has Stalingrad got to do with anything?"

The more she listened the more angry she got. The idiot had lost Stalingrad and surrendered an entire army. Then they retreated, retreated, and retreated as the Russians kept advancing.

"Now we're fighting on three fronts? Bloody hell, now it's four? What the hell are we doing in Africa? We're not big enough to conquer the entire planet." Kate was fuming mad now.

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The program was over and Kate pressed the OFF button, ready to throw the remote at the TV, she was so angry.

"**WE FUCKING LOST!**"


	7. Chapter 7

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 7_

It had taken Rick a week to gather everything he thought he might need. He still didn't know just how strong the aliens were, but he'd been warned that they were really fast.

Not that he had been sitting on his ass all week long. Far from it in fact. Finding what he wanted hadn't been all that easy. Some of the things, yes, though others had been a lot harder. He had, however, gotten pretty far in his remodel of her courtyard that had been left to its own devices and was now a mess.

Actually it was still a bit of a mess. At least the mess was now a little more organized. All of the pavers that had made up the courtyard were now piled up in one corner and all of the weeds were now piled up in another corner. And all of the pots were in yet another corner. Their contents had been spread out all over.

The three new members of his family were stretching their legs and looking the place over. That was until one of them had found the bowl of water and the food bowl. The other two didn't want to be left out so they came bounding to join him.

Rick was smiling widely when he heard the front door. Janelle was off at her job so he closed the door behind him and ran to the front door.

"Delivery for Richard Castle."

"I'll open the double doors and you can drop them off just inside," Rick said then closed and locked the front door and jogged over to the double doors to open them.

"Just drop them right here, if you please." He watched as the two of them unloaded fourteen bags of compost.

"Thanks, guys." He even gave each of them a small tip for dropping them inside the doors and not out on the sidewalk. He had little hope that they would carry them all the way to the courtyard for him. In his Angel form he could carry several of them with ease so it would be quick and simple for him. He just had to do it when no one was home or watching.

Rick closed both of the doors, locked them, then ran to the courtyard. It was time to get busy with why he was there.

"You three ready to do your job?" he asked then proceeded to check his box to make sure he had everything. "Collapsible bowl for the water. Water bottles, one for you and one for me. Three pairs of handcuffs. Three sets of leg shackles. One gun and three bolts for said gun.

It was just about 2:00 pm so he picked up his three new buddies and put them in the box, then picked up the box and headed for a house phone. He needed to hail a taxi to get to the park.

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Rick paid the driver and picked up his box, looked at his passengers, and started walking.

The first one was right where he had last seen it about a week ago. This was a good thing but it also left him wondering just when they got to move at all. There were a few people around at this time of day, but it wasn't that busy.

Rick walked up to it and looked it over. It didn't look like anything had changed. Maybe it got to touch someone then stayed right were it was. Well, when he was done, that's just what it would be doing. Staying right there.

"Okay you three time to start work. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, your job is to keep your eyes on this statue. Don't take your eyes off of it," Rick told the three kittens that he had bought from a really nice lady that was selling kittens.

Rick smiled as he watched the three of them sit down and stare at the statue. Satisfied that the statue was going to stay a statue he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and attached them to the arms that it was holding to its face covering its eyes.

"There, that should hold your hands in place." It could still reach out and touch someone. It just wasn't going to be that easy now.

Rick turned to his box where he pulled out a metal stake, loaded it into his gun, and placed it on the ground. Next came a pair of shackles with a heavy chain between them.

Making sure that his buddies were still on duty he attached one to its ankle, removed the combination lock, then put it in place and spun the combination. Each lock had a different combination and he hadn't bothered to memorize any of them. He had no plans on ever removing them so it didn't matter.

With one leg secure he worked on the other. Then he looked up at his new friend and his buddies just to make sure. He picked up his gun and fired the bolt between the chains and into the concrete.

It looked nice and tight and Rick even tested it just to be sure. It could move its legs maybe an inch at best. "There, now let's see just how fast you are." He was pleased with himself.

He dropped his gun back into his box. "Huey, Dewey, Louie, come here, boys. Time for the next one." The kittens came bounding over to him and got lifted into the box. With the box in his arms, Rick headed for the next statue.

Rick was forced to delay his work on the next statue since this area had far more people. It wasn't that he didn't mind people seeing him doing it. It was just that he didn't need the questions or having them calling the police on him.

Then things got worse. He took the kittens out so they could move around and actually have some fun. This got people, mostly women and kids to come over so they could play with the kittens. So much so that the kittens didn't even have a spare moment to finish drinking some water from their bowl.

It took like three hours for most of the people to go away. It was closer to 5:00 pm when he finally got started on the second statue.

It went quickly and was just as easy as the first one. Cuffs on their wrists, shackles for their legs that were in turn bolted to the concrete. "Two down. You three ready for number three? …Or not." Rick found them in a furry pile next to the box sleeping. "Maybe I should have used puppies." It was just a threat and the little trio weren't even listening.

Rick took a chance and moved to the third target for the day. Only when he rounded the corner it wasn't there. "So they do get around." That wasn't good news. He decided to walk the area anyway to see if it had gone far.

He did actually see one and it was standing on the concrete this time. But they all looked the same to him so he didn't know if this was the same one or a different one. It was all alone like the last two. And like the others it had its hands over its eyes. "You guys really can't risk seeing each other, can you?" It helped explain why he only ever found one at a time in any location.

"Come on, you three, I need the help." He would make it as fast as possible but he needed them awake and watching to make sure it stayed a statue.

Like last time Rick started with the wrists then moved on to the legs and was done just in time to watch the three of them drop right where they were sitting.

"Okay you guys let's go home." Rick picked up two of them and placed them in the box. He had picked up the third and was just placing it in the box when he heard the sound of the shackles moving and the spike being tested.

That had Rick spinning his head to look and he saw that it had lowered its still restrained hands and for the first time he could see its face. It had a face just like he expected. It had eyes, a nose, lips, cheeks, eyebrows. However, it was the mouth that had most of his attention. It was hanging wide open and yes, it had a tongue, but its mouth was filled with teeth that he could swear looked like those of a vampire.

"Aren't you lovely looking. …NOT!" These things just might turn out to be very dangerous. Especially when no one was looking for any length of time. It had only had a second to test its restraints. What was going to happen when it had hours during the night to test them?

Rick kept his unblinking eyes on it while he reached blindly for his box. Once he had it he stood up with it in his arms and backed away. Main problem was that he didn't have eyes in the back of his head so he didn't know just where he was going.

Now he had a quandary and it wasn't a good one. Stop watching the statue and have it seriously test its restraints or change into an Angel and fly as fast as he could and hope. Hope that it didn't get free too soon. Hope that if or when it did that it couldn't fly fast enough to catch up to him. Hope that the entire city or even half of it wouldn't see him.

Rick made his choice; he changed into his Angel form and leapt up into the air while trying to keep an eye on the statue. He took his eyes off of it and looked at the sleeping kittens and flapped his wings as fast as he could and hoped for the best.

He chose to fly just above treetops and all of the lower buildings. If anyone did see him they would only see him for a blink of an eye. He had never flown this fast before. He finally reached an area that looked safe enough to land on. Once he was down he changed to human quickly, walked out onto the sidewalk, and started looking for a taxi.

His one big hope was that if anyone did see him they would also see the statue and doing that would force it to stop flying and fall to the ground. That left him with a question. If it did crash to the ground or maybe slammed into a building, would it shatter into pieces since it was now basically a statue? Plus if he got into a fight with one was he the stronger of the two?

Killing was a sin so even killing one of these things was out; capturing them was all he had for now. Even if it was simply restraints and not an actual prison.

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Rick let himself in and went down to his room. Then he went up the stairs and out to the courtyard where he took the kittens out and put them to bed after making sure they had water and food.

His new problem was that he was too wound up to go to sleep. He was tired but his mind was still running a mile a minute so he searched for a book to read. He would go back to work on the courtyard tomorrow.

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Rick ran into Janelle in the kitchen since he was interested in breakfast. "Good morning. Do you have another shift today?" he inquired as he watched her look for a cereal box.

"I do but today should be a short shift. I'm taking someone else's shift so they can go on vacation." Rick thought she was a really nice woman and doing this for someone at the hospital only helped his opinion of her.

"A vacation sounds nice. Have you considered a cruise? Many cruise ships have rooms for a single person. Caribbean, perhaps, or Greece, maybe? Oh, I know, Hawaii! Who can resist Hawaii." Rick was thinking she worked too hard. "You might meet that someone special," he singsonged to try and make it sound more appealing.

She shot him down. "My husband was my someone special and I have too much work to do to take a long vacation."

Rick was undaunted. "Living in Hawaii might be really nice. No more snow, ice, taxis. Just the beach and sunshine and swimsuits."

She fought back. "Hawaii is for the young. Perhaps you should take your own advice. All of those lovely young women walking around in bikinis. If you like Hawaii so much why are you in New York?" She had yet to see him bring anyone home. Even if she did barely ever see him as it was.

Rick shook his head. "I'm needed here and before you say it, Hawaii has hospitals. I'm sure they would dearly love to have you there. You could sell this place and buy a condo if doing yard work scares you."

"Speaking of yard work you've gotten pretty far already. I'm interested in seeing it when you're done." It was still mostly a mess, but now it was a more organized mess.

"Have you been peeking?" Rick tried to give her the evil eye that she was cheating by peeking.

"My house, my courtyard. And you still need to send me the bill for the supplies you're planning to use." It was her house and he shouldn't be spending his money to fix it up.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll find you a cruise for one and a condo in Hawaii that you'll at least consider and I'll let you see the bills." He said see the bills, not pay the bills.

Janelle thought about it. Anything he found she could reject and not bother even looking at them. "Deal. What are your plans for today?" She was almost done eating and ready to leave for work.

"I got a load of compost that I need to work into the ground into the planting beds. I'm also expecting a load of stone for a wall along with some more supplies. I need to do some digging and put in a liner once I have a hole. Oh, and some paint and supplies." He had a busy day planned in the courtyard today.

"Digging, liner. What are you up to?" She was sure anything he did would be better than what she had now, but now she was curious.

"Oh, no, I'm not spilling the beans. And no more peeking or it won't be a surprise, and remember you promised to look at what I find for you. You deserve to be happy." He shook a finger at her.

"I made no such promise," Janelle countered though now she was thinking that she really was going to look at what he found for her. "Have fun digging." She drank her orange juice down and left in search of her purse.

Rick cleaned everything up and filled the dishwasher when he was done and turned it on.

"Huey, Dewey, and Louie, you three need to stay out of the way today. Today is your day off, we can play after I'm done digging my hole." Rick was dressed for making another mess and got started digging.

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He was interrupted twice for deliveries that he then had to move from the front double doors to the courtyard and pile it all up out of the way. Now he just needed the pump, tubing, fire pits, and the new patio furniture. Except he wasn't ready for that stuff yet. He would plant the plants before he filled the pool with water since they would all be on the other side of the pool up against the wall. He also needed to get the painting finished before he put in the liner to make sure he didn't put a hole in it.

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Rick threw his shovel out of his hole in the ground and looked around. He had shoveled all of the dirt to one side and needed to build the wall so that he could shovel all that dirt behind the wall where the plants were going to go. Yet he couldn't do that until the paint got there so he could paint the mural.

Fortunately the hole was only three feet deep. No one was meant to swim in it save maybe for a few fish that he needed to talk her into getting if he could. Plus he had one change he wanted to talk her into. Right now the only entrance was through his space. Meaning down a set of stairs, across the length of the house, then up another set of stairs. But there were three windows on one wall and he wanted to talk her into replacing the lower window with a door.

"What!?" Rick saw Dewey at the edge and looking down into his hole. "Sorry, no water yet and no fish for you." Then he heard the front door. "That had better be the paint and not the blocks for the wall." He was tired and didn't need to be moving blocks down the stairs, through his space, then back up the stairs and find someplace out of the way to stack them.

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Rick fell backwards onto his bed; he was dead tired. It hadn't been the paint and he'd spent the time moving two pallets of blocks for the wall two blocks at a time. "I need a massage!" Then he groaned when the front door bell sounded. "Blast!"

It hurt to get up and it hurt to walk up the stairs to the door where he found that the paint for his mural was there. He now had everything he needed save the patio furniture and the fire pits but the fire pits would just slip into the empty space so they could be last.

Now he was looking forward to going back to securing statues to the concrete. He also needed to check on the ones he'd already secured. Especially that last one. Was his plan actually working or were they strong enough to escape? That led to a new question. How long did these things live? What he was doing wasn't a permanent solution and so far he didn't have one. If there even was one. Which meant was he going to have to be doing this forever? As in forever kind of forever?


	8. Chapter 8

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 8_

Kate was coming to the realization that finding these alien statues wasn't all that easy. "If this is an invasion where are they?" she muttered. She spun in place and didn't see anything that looked like a statue that had its hands covering its eyes. There were statues, yes, but they were all statues dedicated to something or someone.

She'd spent the entire day like yesterday and the day before walking around the city. Since the only money she had was the money she had found in the house and their credit cards so she needed to use the cold hard cash sparingly.

However, that didn't stop her from stopping at a local market to buy some food using one of the credit cards and forging the name on the card.

Kate had put away her purchases and was getting started on making dinner since she was starving when there was a knock at her front door. "No one knows I'm here." The people that manned the desk downstairs had never stopped her. She had a card that gained her access to the elevator so they said nothing.

She left the chicken that she was preparing and went to the door. Opening it showed her that there was a young woman on the other side. "Who are you?" the woman demanded since Kate shouldn't be there.

"I live here," Kate replied.

"No, my parents live here. …MOM!" the young woman yelled into the space past Kate. Kate grabbed her arm, pulled her into the entryway, and slammed the door closed. "What the HELL!" Who did this strange lady think she was?

Kate didn't have time for this so she shifted to her Dark Phoenix form and reached out with her hands to hold her head. Then she channeled all of her power into her hands.

The look of pain and shock lasted only a few heartbeats and in seconds her entire head, bone and all, turned into ash and given that now that the body was off balance it fell to the floor. Her power had cauterized the damage at the neck so there was no blood. The heart was even still beating and keeping the body alive.

Kate couldn't yet risk taking her out of the house to dispose of the body so she left it right where it was, shifted back to being human, and went into the kitchen to finish making dinner. She would search her purse and body after eating and cleaning up.

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Kate had no trouble sleeping that night after getting rid of the body. Her body would never, ever be found since it was all ash scattered in the wind. She had learned that she was likely going to have a future problem.

"She has a different last name. Meaning she's married to someone and that someone will probably come looking for her or call and ask her parents if they've seen her." It told her she would have to kill at least one more person in order to stay where she was. It was mostly only a minor nuisance.

Right now she was walking through a large park she had found that had statues all over the place. Though so far not any of the ones she was looking for. That was until she saw one.

It was just standing there at the edge of a concrete walkway. It was about six feet tall, had its hands over its face and eyes, and was clearly made of stone. So she started walking toward it. Then she noticed a man sitting on a bench who looked to be looking right at it.

Kate ignored him for now and got closer to the statue since something had caught her attention. "It's wearing handcuffs!" That indeed was different and not what she was expecting.

"Makes you wonder what the sculptor was thinking, doesn't it?" Rick asked and watched her turn to look at him before quickly turning back to look at the statue. Thankfully it hadn't moved an inch.

Kate backed up a little then turned at an angle to look at the stranger who was just sitting there. She saw that he had one eye on her and one on the statue. She noticed he was rather handsome so she chose to sit next to him and talk while she watched the statue with him.

They were both silent for a time until she noticed something else. "Shackles?" Its legs were secured to the concrete by a chain.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Rick turned his head to look at her. Up close she was truly lovely. Intrigued, he looked for a ring on her finger. When he didn't find one he decided to keep talking.

"What is the sculptor trying to tell us? The clothes look really simple, almost styled after the ancient Romans or Greeks. It leaves you thinking it's wearing plain sandals or flip flops for shoes. Why did he sculpt it with its hands over its face? Yet he took the time to make sure the hands look real. You can even see individual hairs on its head. Then there are the restraints, so what is he trying to tell us? I mean the restraints aren't part of the sculpture and were added later. So did he forget them? Did he add them later and why?

"Or maybe it was a few teenagers who thought it was funny to put restraints on it. Instead of using paint they did this," Rick suggested even though it was he who had done it. He was actually there to see if it had moved at all since he had secured it in place. He needed to learn if it could free itself quickly.

Kate added her own observation. "The wings make it different from all the others." None of the others in the area had wings.

"Almost makes you think its an angel with wings. But why is it so bashful that it has to cover its face?" Rick chuckled softly and noticed that it got her to smile a little. He held out his hand. "I'm Rick."

She took it. "Kate." She held onto his hand and now she really looked at him. He was clearly easy on the eyes and she liked the look of his blue eyes. He had broad shoulders and he was taller than she was even sitting next to her.

"So what do you think the sculpture is trying to tell us?" Rick wasn't anxious to let go of her hand and he needed to keep her interested in sitting next to him.

Kate had never been that philosophical about anything. She was more of a down-to-earth type of person. She made a snap decision to say what she knew was the truth but would be characterized as being impossible. "Maybe it's an alien that crashed here and now it's lost."

"That's very good!" Rick was impressed. She had a sense of humor and was willing to think outside of the box. "What do you do for a living? A writer perhaps?"

Kate laughed a little. "No, I'm a singer. Though your idea that someone has messed with it sounds more likely." His idea of it being teenagers was plausible.

"Pity, I kind of like your idea better. It shows imagination." He moved slightly closer. "A singer, huh? A name I would know?" Was he sitting next to someone famous and still holding her hand?

Kate fought the blush that threatened to bloom. "No, I'm basically a nobody. I mostly sing in little clubs." Little clubs were all she had ever sung in all her life. She never made much money. It was mostly just a cover for what she really did and that was to steal information.

"I seriously doubt that you're a nobody." She was far too pretty for that. Rick lifted his hand and hers with it so he could kiss her hand softly. "I would love to stay and talk but I have an appointment. Perhaps we could meet here again tomorrow? Same time?"

Kate didn't need to think about that. "That would be nice." It had been a long time since anyone for any reason had kissed her hand.

They finally separated and Kate had her hand back and found that she missed the contact. She watched him walk away. "Nice ass, too." To go with everything else she had liked about him. "I forgot to look for a ring!" Kate was slipping and that couldn't be allowed to keep happening.

With Rick gone she got up to look over the statue with a little more detail. They were indeed handcuffs and looked to be on its wrists tight. Kate made sure to keep her eyes open as she looked down as the shackles. These looked a little more old school and there was a bolt of some kind in the concrete holding the chains in place.

Kate backed off before looking around. There were too many people around. Maybe it was her time from being a German spy that prevented her from changing forms and burning the restraints off of it. It was just that if she did she would bring attention to herself. Plus she really didn't know all that much about the year 2012.

"I'll be back to free you," Kate told it and planed on being back there hours from now when it was really dark. Just long enough to burn away the restraints and then fly off before going home.

She walked away and passed people going the opposite direction so turning her back on it was clearly safe. Between them seeing it and the restraints she was betting it couldn't move no matter how fast it was.

She was on her way home and already thinking about what she was going to wear tomorrow for her meeting with Rick. She even wondered what he would think when the restraints were gone. Maybe even the statue itself would be gone.

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"Okay, so why am I here?" Janelle asked Rick as they both stood in the middle of the mess that was still her courtyard. "And where did the kittens come from? I don't remember anything about you having pets." She hadn't yet decided if she was willing to allow him to have pets.

"I'm fostering them for a short time. I've only paid for a year and they'll be gone long before that time. Plus they'll be staying out here and not inside so any mess they make they make out here. This is Huey, Dewey, and Louie." Rick thought they were cute and so far they were working out for him.

"You named them after a cartoon." She was a little surprised as well as a little amused. "Besides the kittens, why am I here?" She saw the big hole in the ground and all of the materials that were stacked all over the place.

"I have a plan and since this is your house I wanted to run it past you before it became too late," he explained and watched her simply watch him. "There's going to be a mural on the wall that I'm going to paint. It'll be shades of gray and white. The mural's going to be an angel with big white wings. I'm still working on the pose so I can't tell you much about that.

"Once it's complete I'm going to build a short wall between the mural and the pit. Then I'm going to put that pile of dirt from the hole into that area. In that area I'm going to plant a few construction grade bamboo plants. The stalks will be four to six inches in diameter and up to sixty-seven feet tall. A little over thirty feet above the wall." That was the part Rick wasn't sure she would go for.

"Why bamboo? Why not plant trees or something?" So far she didn't have a problem with his plan. She actually liked the idea of the angel.

"I want something that won't hide the mural but will provide something that you have to look past to see it. The stalks of bamboo will do that. A tree, especially a young tree, will conceal it for years and bamboo grows really fast.

"Then this pit is going to be filled with water that will be two to three feet deep. In the water there are going to be two or maybe three concrete squares that will each have a small fire pit in the middle. I'm thinking something simple like a can filled with an alcohol-like substance. You just fill the can and light it when you want a flame.

"Where we're standing is where I'm going to put the pavers that were already out here back in place. Only this time I'm going to put down a layer of gravel so that they don't heave up out of the ground. They'll be nice and level all year long. Then you can buy and put in some patio furniture and actually enjoy the space." Rick finished explaining his plan, hoping for her approval.

"Oh, and reuse the pots and put plants in them as well. I'm thinking mostly flowers to give the space a burst of color. It should be all amazing to look at. If you want you might even be able to put fish in the pond. Maybe even a few water plants for them." Rick was finally done.

Janelle thought it over. She broke it down and looked at him. "An angel, bamboo, pond, fire pits, pavers, furniture, and flowers in pots. And you do work for the FBI and police and not as a landscape designer?" She was sure he was in the wrong line of business.

She let him sweat it for a moment. "It sounds absolutely breathtaking, Rick. I approve and you can keep the cats. Just so long as you keep them out of the house." She pointed her finger at him. "I don't want them pooping and peeing all over my house."

Rick raised his hand. "I promise. It should look stunning; you're going to love it." He was glad she liked his plan.

"I thought you were trying to get me to move to Hawaii or something?" If this worked out her place would be even better than it already was.

"Oh, I am, I most definitely am. If you like this just wait until you see Hawaii! It's going to be hundreds of times better. You'll see. Just think, living on a beach all day. Bronze-skinned men who all want to date you. Sunshine and green plants and flowers all over the place. No more concrete, no more taxis, no more pollution. The air will smell clean and fresh all day long. You're going to love it." Rick was still selling it to her. Janelle stared at him since she was still skeptical. New York was home and had been since she was a little girl.

Rick saw that look. "Challenge accepted." He was going to win, he was sure of it. He just needed to get her to go on a vacation there to see what living there would be like instead of living here. He had won her over with his courtyard design so he would win this as well.

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It was really late at night. Approximately two thirty in the morning. Kate had two things planned for tonight. First she had to get rid of the body. So she shifted into her Dark Phoenix form that was almost all fire. You could still see her body, it was just that instead of skin and hair it was all fire.

She streaked out into the night and applied her power to turn the body into ash and allowed what remained to just float away with the wind. Next she headed for the park where she'd met Rick.

She was looking forward to seeing him again and maybe, just maybe, actually going out on a date with him. She hadn't been on a real date in a very long time. Sure she had gone out with men on dates, but they were meant to gain access to them so she could steal what she wanted. She'd even had sex with a few of them to get what she wanted.

Perhaps if she actually liked him she might bring him home with her and fuck his brains out. If he turned out to be actually any good in bed she might start planning on how to make him her sex slave and keep him.

Now, though, she had a job to do. She landed not far away from the statue with the restraints. It mostly looked just like she remembered it looking. It did look like it had been testing the restraints that held its legs. The concrete in the area had a few cracks.

"You might actually manage to free yourself after some time working at it. How about a little help?" While still keeping an eye on it she pointed her finger and shot a tight beam of fire at the chain where it was secured by a bolt or stake of some type.

It took a few minutes until it finally gave way since it really was strong. It meant there were still shackles around its ankles with a chain dangling from each of them. However, now it was free to move.

"Now for the handcuffs." Kate pointed her finger at the chain that connected them and held her beam of fire until they finally broke. "There you're free. You can thank me later." Kate started backing up and broke the first rule: _s__he blinked._

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" It was now just a few inches away from her and its hands were almost touching her. Its face looked angry and its mouth was open and filled with teeth. "You sure you're not a vampire with those teeth?"

Kate concentrated on not blinking and looked it over closely. Now that it had actually moved it looked more like a living statue now than it had previously.

She needed to get away from it without being touched. "Let's see if you can fly just as fast as you can move." Kate spread her fiery wings wide and while keeping her eyes on it, flew up until she couldn't see it clearly any longer. Then she kicked it into overdrive and flew away. Anyone who saw her would see a streak of fire racing across the night sky.

Following the fiery creature was out and it knew it. Up there even in the night sky someone might spot it and it would fall to the ground or at least until it was no longer seen. Chasing after whoever had released it was out. Still since now that it was free it could move to find someone to touch and gain power. The more power it gained the stronger it would become.

There were only a few of her bothers and sisters on this planet. However, if they all became powerful enough, they could summon more of their kind. It might take decades or even centuries, but someday this planet would be theirs to do with as they pleased.

After all, their kind lived _forever._


	9. Chapter 9

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 9_

Kate would never admit this to anyone and that included herself, however there she was, out shopping for a dress for her meeting with Rick later that day. She needed something really nice, a little sexy but not slutty. She needed something that would show off her best attributes and diminish those that she didn't like. That meant her long legs needed to be shown while she hid her breasts.

It wasn't that she was ashamed of the size of her breasts, it was just that when she was young she greatly feared that she was never going to fill out, that she'd end up being flat-chested forever. Even though she now had breasts she wasn't really happy with their size. But she also knew the power of cleavage when it came to men. It was just that showing too much of both might make her look slutty.

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Kate had always been sure of herself. To be a spy kind of meant you were self-assured and capable. Except as she walked to the meeting spot she found herself a little unsure as well as excited. Their one short meeting had intrigued her.

She walked with her head up and her chest out unlike most women. Most women didn't really notice that they walked with their shoulders a little hunched. It was an unconscious choice since the pain of having a breast hit was severe. Kate, though, had learned the power of displaying confidence.

Her dress was an A-line with a deep V-neck jumpsuit that had an open sheer skirt. The dress itself was filled with sequins that made it sparkle. It was sleeveless and backless. Because of that she was not wearing a bra.

The jumpsuit pants came down to her ankles and they were tight fitting. Her high heel black shoes made her long legs even longer. It gave him a hint of her breasts and accentuated her height.

She found him right where she had found him last time. He was sitting on a bench, but the statue that had been there was long gone. She had released it last night and it had obviously moved.

Kate walked right up to him. "Hi." She smiled approvingly since he was now more formally dressed. Last time he had been wearing blue jeans and a Hawaiian aloha shirt with tennis shoes. Now he wore black dress slacks and a deep burgundy dress shirt. It was almost a perfect match for her burgundy-colored dress. He was even wearing black dress shoes. If anyone saw them together they would guess that they were a couple.

Rick looked up and smiled. "Hello, lovely lady." She was even taller than he remembered and she was gorgeous. She had obviously taken time curling her hair in large curls and she was wearing a lot more makeup this time. And he couldn't help but move his eyes from her eyes to her breasts and back again.

Rick stood up. "You look amazing." This time he made sure to look her over from head to toe.

Kate saw him looking her over and it gave her a moment to do the same. With her heels she was equal in height to him. He was close shaven and it had her wondering what he would look like with a couple of days of stubble.

"It looks like we're a little overdressed for the park. Care to join me for dinner? Perhaps someplace quiet and dark." Rick held out his hand for her to take.

"That would be nice." It beat sitting on a concrete bench that some teenager had chiseled things into to leave his mark. Kate took his hand and walked proudly next to him while they held hands.

"Someone stole our statue," Rick commented.

Hearing that had Kate grinning a little. She was the cause of that, however, he had called it _their _statue. Suddenly they had a statue.

"Maybe it flew away," Kate teased since it did have wings.

"How does that work when they're made of concrete?" Rick queried.

"Floating bridges are made of concrete," Kate countered.

"Good point. …So smart and beautiful."

"Thanks." Kate was proud of herself and smiled at him after his compliment. "Where are we going?" What did he have in mind?

"Something French, perhaps. It's called La Sirene. Maybe not as quiet and dark as I offered, but it is nice. Unless you want something more dark or a different palate," Rick offered.

"Do you know of a German restaurant?" It would be nice to eat food from home.

"German." That had Rick searching his memory and what his Angel could tell him. "Perhaps Heidelberg? Established in 1936 so it's old. We're going to need a taxi since it's on the upper east side. Lots of German beer."

"Sounds perfect." Kate let go of his hand and hooked her arm around his so she could walk closer to him while they went in search of a taxi.

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Like all of New York it wasn't a stand-alone building. It certainly looked German, though. It had a white stucco front with wood accents.

"Welcome," the hostess said. "Just two? We have space in three locations. The bar, the main floor, or the basement."

Rick looked at Kate since it was her choice. She wanted a beer but could get that sitting anywhere. "The basement, please." It would certainly be darker like they both wanted.

They went down the stairs just off to one side and into one long narrow room with tables on both sides. It had wide plank dark wood floors that her heels clicked on as she walked. The tables were solid dark wood with wood chairs. The walls and ceiling were white. There were large wrought iron chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a medieval shield with swords behind it hanging on one wall. There was also a huge painting of old world Germany between them.

"Your server will be with you in a minute." She handed out the menus and left.

Kate went straight to the beer section. After all this time she had a chance at a real German beer and she couldn't wait. She barely noticed that their server was wearing a traditional German dirndl.

The choices made her selection a little difficult. However, "Dunkel, please. One liter." She wanted a nice big stein or at least a heavy glass.

"I'll have a Hofbrau Lager, please. One liter." Rick started to fear that Kate could drink him under the table but didn't want to look weak. He watched her grinning at his choice.

Both of them began looking at the menu. "Any suggestions?" Coming to a German restaurant had been her choice so why not ask her.

"You trust me?" Kate grinned at him since they knew next to nothing about each other.

"Implicitly." Rick didn't bat an eye and smiled back at her. Kate smiled even wider.

"We'll both have the menu surprise," Kate told their server and handed over her menu while Rick did the same.

He started the conversation. "So a singer?"

"Yes, just not at the moment. I'm looking for a new space." Which was a big lie since she wasn't looking at all. But she was good at lying.

"Pity, I was looking forward to listening to you sing." She had just popped his bubble. "Maybe a private song?" Rick smiled charmingly at her.

"On a first date?" Kate challenged.

Rick's eyebrows rose. "So you're shy?"

"Perhaps after a second date," Kate deflected since she hadn't really made up her mind just yet.

"I'll let you chose our second date location." Rick was all in for a second date. Kate might be a lucky find.

"So what do you do?" Bank robber, jewel thief, maybe. Serial killer would be great.

"I'm a part time consultant. I also brew my own beer from time to time. I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it. Though I don't have any equipment at the moment. I'm renting a room from a lady so I don't have the space for it." It was a pity really since he could use the practice.

"Beer." That alone had Kate. Just as she said it their server delivered their beers in large glass steins.

Kate lifted her glass. "Zum Wohl."

"You speak German." He didn't know that. "What did you just say?" He didn't understand a word.

"To your health," Kate replied and watched as he raised his glass, clinked it against hers, and drank just as long as she did. Which emptied half of their glass at one time.

Kate grinned, pleased that he was following her example. Maybe if she got him drunk he would be more than willing to be her sex slave. Problem was if she got him too drunk he wouldn't even come home with her. Maybe after their second date.

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Kate had actually enjoyed her date and he wasn't drunk. She had obviously gone without for far too long since she had a slight buzz. Though she was still in control of herself.

"This is me." They had gotten out of the taxi and were standing just outside of the lobby.

Being a singer must pay well. It was a nice building. She obviously had a condo or rented an apartment. Rick liked it.

"You want to come up?" Kate had sex on her mind. She might not sing for him on their first date but she was more than willing to have sex with him on their first date.

"That would be nice. But I have responsibilities that require my attention." He had to get home.

"I knew it! You're married." Kate was kicking herself. But if she got him drunk enough she could still keep him.

"I'm not married, Kate. I've never been married. I have to get home and check on Huey, Dewey, and Louie." They were his responsibility and he had to watch after them.

"You have kids?" This was turning into the date from hell. So much for him being her sex slave.

"Not kids, kittens. I have three kittens. I left them alone to come here. I left them with water and food, but I really need to check on them. …Sorry. Maybe lunch next time, your choice. Then I can check on them and you can show me your place," Rick suggested.

"Kittens." Kate shook her head. She was so willing to see the dark and bad side of this date. All her life she'd met bad men. Not evil kind of bad, but bad as in worthless. Good-looking but jerks.

"You should meet them, they're really cute. They'll melt your heart. Innocence can do that to you." He reached for her hand and lifted it to his lips to kiss it. "Noon right here in two days?"

Kate liked him, really liked him. Too bad she hadn't met him when she was a teenager. Her life would have been so very different. "It's a date." Kate was in.

"Excellent. I look forward to what you want to do for our second date." Rick was ready to leave only to have Kate grab his hand that he was still holding and pull. Then she kissed him soundly. He was a bit shocked at first and it took him a second to kiss her back.

Kate was obviously a take-charge kind of woman. She was going to be a refreshing change. All the women he was used to were soft and shy. Kate was clearly soft in places, however she was obviously not shy.

"Hmm, perhaps more kissing on our next date," Rick murmured.

"Count on it." He was a good kisser and it left her wondering just what else he was good at. Was he good at doing what he was told? How many lessons did he need before becoming her willing sex slave?

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Rick had planned to get the mural done today before moving on to the next phase. He had a few boards to make sure he didn't step too far back and tumble into the hole that was going to be the pond. First he needed someone's help with his other plan.

He knew what hospital she worked at. He just needed to talk to her superior and coerce that person into implementing his plan. She wasn't going to go on a Hawaiian vacation if she wasn't allowed time off work to go on vacation.

"Mr. College, thank you for seeing me." Rick shook his hand.

"What can I help you with, Mr. Castle?" He didn't understand why he needed to speak with him.

"Doctor Janelle Smithson has been working really hard of late and she recently lost her husband," Rick began.

"I heard about her husband. It was truly a very sad day. She's one of our very best doctors." he easily agreed.

"I'm sure her husband is in a better place with our Lord. I have a plan on getting her to slow down and enjoy her life again. To show her that she has a life after her husband. I was hoping to talk you into letting her have nine days off from work. A day of travel, seven days sailing around the islands of Hawaii and another day of travel. Give her a chance to enjoy life. What better place is there to unwind and enjoy life than the islands of Hawaii," Rick said earnestly.

"Hawaii. A place my wife and I would love to visit ourselves. What is your place in all of this? I don't know of any sons she had with her husband."

"I'm just a family friend. I'm actually staying with her to help her keep the house up. It's a big place and it's only her. I can get her to the airport, I just need you to grant her the time off. It's going to be a surprise." Rick didn't need him spilling the beans.

College sighed. He was willing to admit that she likely needed a vacation and the chances of her asking for time off were slim. "Let me see what I can do and I'll get back to you. I need to make sure that her absence doesn't disrupt the hospital." This was going to take planning.

Rick nodded understandingly. "Is two days enough time? I can come back for your answer. Unless Janelle comes home to tell me she has been told to take a vacation. Sort of a use it or lose it option."

"Two days should be fine. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Janelle needs to be working at her best." He stood up and offered Rick his hand. Rick shook it and headed home. Part one was now complete. He just needed a date and then he would book her a flight and a cruise around Hawaii.

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Kate was making breakfast the next morning. Sleep had been a little elusive. She had really liked Rick. He'd been nice and was certainly easy on the eyes. Maybe just a little too nice. However she found herself looking forward to their next date. She had been willing to bring him up and have sex with him last night.

He had actually managed to scare her a little with that married fear and then with his kittens. Kittens she didn't mind so much. Having a pet might be nice. Then there was what he did. He had been a little vague about that. A consultant for who, doing what? That answer could wait. First was finding out if he was any good in bed. Could he be trained?

Her first problem was a big one. "What do I want to do for a date?" It had been a while since she had been on a date that wasn't part of her previous job. Still she was actually looking forward to it.

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There was one thing Kate had found in her search of the home. She had found a laptop computer. At first she didn't understand what it was or how it worked. The keyboard was obvious and it had a screen that lit up after being turned on. Thankfully the owner hadn't given it a password so using it was easy.

Next came some time figuring out that she could do a lot on something called an Internet. She could purchase nearly anything online and have it delivered. She had found something called Amazon.

She had created an account and used the credit card and had gone looking for things to purchase. She even had three items ordered already.

Now she was using it to search for a lunch date location.

The last one had been in the upper east side so maybe they should stay there. She almost hated to think it but he had taken her to where she wanted to eat so maybe she could take him where he wanted to eat. It was just that she couldn't stomach taking him to a stinking French restaurant. So what was neutral ground?

"Portugrill, it serves Portuguese food. Spain was technically neutral in the war even if that wasn't actually true. Portugal might be neutral enough." Kate decided on it then looked at the menu. "Only twelve seats? It's tiny!" Maybe it wasn't that good of a choice. "We could buy it and eat in the park. It's only a few blocks away. A picnic in the park might be nice. Then we could have sex in a public place for our first time." Kate grinned widely. She was more than willing, but was Rick willing?

"Chicken, sausage, and one skirt steak." The menu was a little limited but it was enough. "We're going to need plates, glasses, something to drink, napkins, and something to put it all into." She had one day to find it all.

Thankfully living in the year 2012 meant she could find where it all was using the laptop that came with the house. She could even have it delivered, save for the fact that she didn't have the time for that. It simply meant she had to go out to get it which took a couple of hours of her time.

Right now her only concern, and it was a small one for the moment, was when and who was going to show up next. The young woman's husband would probably be first, though he might show up with the local police. She would kill all of them and get rid of the bodies. She knew staying there would eventually become too dangerous.

Not dangerous as in being afraid for her life. It was just that as a spy you needed to be invisible and not be a suspect for anything. The more people that disappeared that had this place in common meant more people would be looking this way.

She was going to have to spend a little time looking for her next place to live.


	10. Chapter 10

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 10_

_Parts of this chapter are heavily __**M**__ rated. For this reason reader discretion is advised!_

Kate had enjoyed her picnic date with Rick. It was the first time in a very long time that she had actually had fun doing anything. Rick, it turned out, had a knack for making her laugh. Every care she had was simply blown away. She'd even managed to get him to laugh with her.

She was still giddy as they worked at picking everything up. Some of it had to go in the trash, however, they had agreed to do this again so Kate had planned on keeping most of it.

Then she found herself standing really close to him as they packed. She couldn't help it. She was happy and he was nice and rather handsome so she kissed him. When she broke from the kiss she smiled at him then worked her arms up around his neck and kissed him again.

"Help me take all this home?" She had plans for him once they were there.

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Kate had just dropped everything on the kitchen counter, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. Then she'd been surprised a little. So far she was doing all the leading. Now, though, he had his hands on her ass and lifted her up to sit on the counter.

She spread her legs so she could pull him in close while they kissed. He was trapped in her legs since they were locked around him. She went to work unbuttoning his shirt and dropped it on the floor. This allowed her access to his nipples that she suckled until she bit them and he shrieked like a little girl. "I didn't bite you that hard, Rick," Kate teased and smiled widely as she felt his hands working on her buttons. Her top and her bra ended up on the floor and Rick was now suckling her nipples. She moaned in pleasure when he nibbled on her nipples. Except unlike all of the other men she had been with Rick didn't stop suckling and nibbling.

"OH, YES! Don't stop!" She was approaching a first for her. If he didn't stop she just might actually have an orgasm from simply having him working over her nipples. Keeping him had left her mind for the moment. All she wanted right now was this first.

"SHIT, YES! Bite me!" He pinched one nipple really hard, rubbed his body up against her core, then bit her other nipple. "SHIT!" Kate screamed as her first orgasm struck her and washed over her body.

As she calmed down she went back to kissing him and reminded herself that she was going to keep him and make him hers. Now she needed to find out what else he was really good at.

She pulled away from the kiss so she could see what she was doing as she worked on his belt and his button and zipper. It wasn't hard to tell that he already had an erection and based on what she saw, she was going to like it when she finally released it.

She had just managed to reach his zipper when suddenly she found herself standing on her feet. He had pulled her off the counter. Just as she was about to tell him of her displeasure for this action he scooped her up, forcing her to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Where's the bedroom?" He had never been there before.

Kate smiled since it sounded like he wanted her as much as she wanted him. She moved her hand, pointed, and said, "That way." Then she locked her arm back around his neck. She found herself being carried to the bedroom. It felt great and she watched him close up as he walked them that way.

Kate was carefully placed on the bed then watched as he unfastened her jeans, moved down to remove her shoes, then started pulling on the blue jeans that might as well have been painted on her.

"Did you use glue or something?" He knew they were jeans, but how did she get into these things?

"Shut up and just pull." She wanted those jeans off so they could move on to bigger and better things. Like having him inside her.

Finally her jeans came off and he threw them across the room then crawled up to pull her panties the rest of the way off. They were already down near her knees thanks to her tight pants.

Kate was anxious for him to keep climbing and end up on top of her. Then he nudged her legs apart and she watched as he lowered his head to her core. She closed her eyes and laid her head back onto the bed and waited for his first touch. Rick was the first man she had ever been with that was voluntarily willing to eat her pussy. The other men had done it, but she'd had to ask for it and even then she wasn't all that happy with what they had done.

She moaned at his first touch which happened to be his tongue. At first he spent his time licking her outer and inner lips, avoiding her clit. It was starting to drive her crazy. She even grabbed his head and willed his tongue to touch her clit.

The bastard was either teasing her or he really didn't know what to do. Then she felt two of his fingers enter her. It wasn't his tongue on her clit but she loved it all the same.

He was doing something with those fingers unlike any other person had done, man or woman. He wasn't thrusting them in and out of her. Instead he was just barely inside her and he was curling them as far as she could tell. She was all set to question just what the hell he thought he was doing when suddenly the pleasure of his fingers intensified. It just kept raising and raising. He made her whimper, moan, and grasp handfuls of the comforter. She even lifted her ass of the bed. Partly to get away from those magical fingers and partly to get more pressure on whatever it was he'd found.

Kate screamed out her second orgasm of the night. As she started to calm down she had to admit that he really did know what he was doing. It reinforced her desire to keep him.

She was ready for him to crawl up her body, kiss her and start fucking her. Instead he was using his fingers inside her again. He was curling them again and he was hitting something that had her moaning loudly yet again. Damn but that spot she knew nothing about before was incredibly sensitive.

It seemed to take nearly no time at all for her third orgasm of the night wash over her. This one had her whimpering and moaning as it hit her. Once she started calming down she was more than willing for him to climb up her and begin fucking her.

Instead he used his tongue and started licking her clit directly as fast as he could. It brought her to an instant orgasm that was harder than any orgasm she could remember ever having. It had her screaming yet again as she crushed the comforter in her fists.

He never stopped licking though he switched to licking her lips and avoided her clit. It allowed her to start to calm down. Suddenly he was using his fingers again on that spot inside her. She had only just begun to calm down when suddenly she was building up to yet another orgasm.

Part of her mind was still functional and she still wanted to be fucked but another orgasm was building up and she just couldn't stop her body from exploding into another orgasm. Also her ability to even talk was leaving her. Mostly all that came out of her mouth were moans, mumbled words, and screams.

His fingers had given her two more orgasms when suddenly his tongue was back to licking her clit as fast as he could. It caused her to orgasm with a strength she had never experienced.

This was followed by him using his fingers yet again causing two more orgasms followed yet again by him licking her clit. This caused still another orgasm that had her screaming.

Kate wasn't really sure just what he did next. The number of orgasms had shut down her mind. She couldn't begin to ask him to stop or do something else. To give her a chance to calm down from the previous orgasm. Her mind barely acknowledged that her body was having one orgasm followed by another followed by another. Her body just wouldn't stop having orgasms.

Kate was barely aware that all she was doing was whimpering, moaning, and screaming through orgasm after orgasm. Her existence had been reduced to having orgasms. One after the other, over and over again.

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Kate blearily blinked her eyes open. As her mind woke up she remembered bringing Rick home to have sex with him. She had big hopes that he was a really great fuck or at least a good one. What little she was remembering at the moment that he had spent most if not all of the time with his head between her legs.

She remembered that he had been giving her orgasm after orgasm. It should have been impossible but she was pretty sure it had happened. Even more amazing she was starting to think that she had actually passed out after having so many orgasms that her mind had completely shut down.

She also had no idea if she had even been fucked. For all she knew all he had done was eat her pussy. She suddenly remembered that he'd found a spot inside her that had been the cause of most of her orgasms.

"Just what the fuck did he do to me?" She wasn't exactly sure but she did know one thing. He needed to do it again.

A simple twist of her body to search for him revealed that muscles she didn't even know she had were sore. It wasn't a sore that told her she had been fucked. Worse was that she couldn't even remember ever seeing him. She had no idea just how big he was or what he looked like.

It did tell her he was no longer in the bed. Looking around the room also showed that he wasn't in the bedroom.

"Damn it!" If he was gone she didn't really know how she was going to find him again unless she got lucky. …AGAIN! He knew where she lived but she had no idea where he lived. If he didn't come to her last night might be a one night stand and that wasn't acceptable.

"What's that noise?" There was a sound that her mind wasn't sure just what it was. It was enough that she rolled out of bed to see what it was. She moaned a little from the pain from her overworked muscles.

She gingerly moved in the direction of the sound. Along the way she saw a pair of pants thrown onto a chair. "He's still here somewhere." Then she saw his boxers lying on the floor. "And naked!" She liked the thought of that.

Opening the door to the bathroom increased the sound. It was the sound of the shower running. He was taking a shower. She walked toward the open shower that was easily big enough for two people. When she reached it she found him naked, his back to her, and he was rinsing shampoo from his hair.

"Nice ass!" It looked firm and perfectly shaped. She stepped into the shower and reached to grab two handfuls of his ass. Taken by surprise, he yelped rather loudly and she found that amusing. She also found that he was fast. He spun in place and was now facing her.

"Hi, lover." Kate smiled at him. She also watched him place a hand over his heart.

"Don't do that! You almost gave me a heart attack," Rick growled.

Kate kept her smile. "Morning. Did you save me anything?" She didn't mean shampoo, either. She reached down to take his limp cock in her hand. She didn't need to look since even limp in her hand told her he was a healthy man.

"Don't move." Kate knelt down until his cock was now eye level and she got her first good look at him and she liked what she saw. She began stroking his cock and then took it in her mouth.

It took almost no time at all until he was hard. More than big enough and hard enough to fuck her finally. She stood up so she could kiss him. "Fuck me, baby." She needed him and she needed him now.

His hands slid under her ass and he lifted her up, pushing her up against the wall of the shower. She moaned softly when she felt the tip of his cock at her entrance. Then bit her lower lip when he slipped inside her.

She moaned yet again when he started to fuck her. Kate nibbled on his earlobe while whispering into his ear. "Fuck me baby, harder, faster. That's it, baby, don't stop, don't ever stop." Even after what must have been an unbelievable orgasms last night she moaned into his ear when another washed over her body.

Except he didn't stop fucking her. "OH SHIT, BABY!" She felt a second orgasm building when she heard Rick grunt loudly, thrust himself deep inside her, and hold himself there.

Kate reached down to rub her clit quickly to get that second orgasm of the morning.

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The rest of the shower was used to wash each other as well as a whole lot of kissing. Followed by toweling each other dry.

Rick put on yesterday's clothes on while Kate put on something far more comfortable to wear. "Hungry?" Kate asked since she was starving. She wasn't sure how long they'd had sex last night but based on how hungry she was she was betting she had used up a lot of calories.

"Starving, actually," Rick admitted easily.

"Lucky for you I know how to cook. Provided you like German cooking." She grew up in Germany and mostly only knew German meals.

"I'll eat anything right now. Provided I can save some space for some more pussy for dessert." Rick wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"You didn't get enough last night?" Kate questioned while actually liking his idea a whole lot.

"Never!" Rick had found that she tasted amazingly good. If he wasn't careful he just might become addicted to her taste. "So was that a yes?" He smiled at her.

While she was really interested in his offer, she had a question. "Just what did you do to me last night?" Did he know what he had done? Could he do it again? Maybe several times in fact.

"Liked it, did you?" Rick grinned and ignored the daggers she sent his way. "Did you not know women have what's called G-spot? Unlike your clit which can get really sensitive if over stimulated, your G-spot can be stimulated an unlimited number of times."

Actually, no, she had no idea, however she wasn't going to give him that win. Not now, not ever. "So that means you can do it again." She really did want him to do it again. It meant she was turning over control of her body to him; what he'd done was something she wanted him to do again. Several times. Maybe even forever.

"Is that an offer for another date?" Rick would love to see her again.

"It's your turn to decide where we go next. Just leave enough time for us to come back here for more sex. Bring your kittens if you have to." She didn't want him to pull that again.

Rick chuckled. "I do need to get home after breakfast to check on them. They're just little kittens. Maybe I'll bring them on purpose so you can meet them. They're really cute. They have a way of reaching anyone's heart in an instant."

Kate sincerely doubted that, even if she hadn't already noticed that Rick had touched hers. Last night had left its mark on her heart and for the moment she was simply thinking it was just sex. Damn good sex, but still just sex.

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"So two days?" Kate asked after stopping him at her door. She wanted more of him, not less. The more often the better actually.

"Noon in two days," Rick quickly agreed. He did still have a lot to do. Finish the courtyard. Find and secure more statues and check on the ones he had already secured to the ground. One had already escaped somehow. He needed to figure out if his plan was working or if he needed a new one. It was worrisome that one had escaped.

Kate held onto him and kissed him soundly. "Two days, lover." It didn't even occur to her if she could get pregnant or not. She was dead, or maybe she wasn't any longer. Still she wasn't all human any longer.

She closed the door behind him and leaned her back up against it. "DAMN!" Late night had been a real surprise. Hell, this morning had been yet another surprise. "Why couldn't I have found you in Germany? Or even in the States while I was working." Yet she already knew the answer to those questions. He hadn't even been born yet. Thanks to Lucifer she had to die and end up in 2012 to meet him.

She went to pick up the laptop. She needed to start looking for dating locations for her next choice since if she had her way they would be going on lots and lots of dates followed by sex and still more sex.

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"Hi, Janelle!" Rick found her lounging in the living room. He was betting his kittens would love to have some milk this morning so he was headed for the kitchen.

"Hi, Rick." She was learning to like having him as a roommate. She wasn't all alone any longer and so far he had been really nice. "You might get your wish. My boss has instructed me to plan a vacation and tell him the dates. He thinks I'm working too hard and will burn myself out." She hadn't agreed and had fought back. She'd lost that fight, though.

"Really!" Rick hadn't been expecting him to be that fast. "That's good. Give me a chance and I'll find you something to think about. I was thinking maybe a cruise to somewhere. Go see something you haven't seen yet. …Greece maybe or the Caribbean."

Janelle shook her head. "My husband and I went to the Caribbean for our honeymoon." She had already been there and didn't need to go again.

"Okay then, what about Mexico, Alaska, …Hawaii, maybe? Australia, Italy; there are lots of places. Leave it to me. I'll find you something then we can agree on a date. I promise to take really good care of your home for you while you're gone." Rick opened the refrigerator and poured out some milk.

"Have a really good day today," he told her and balanced his bowl of milk. "And no more peeking until I'm done," he called over his shoulder since he was sure she was indeed peeking at what he was doing.

Janelle didn't even bother to lie that she wasn't peeking since she was. It was her house, after all. Still he had talked to her about what he had planned and she was really interested in seeing it completed. She wanted to watch, but she also wanted to be surprised. Not peeking was going to test her will power, she was sure.


	11. Chapter 11

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 11_

When it was her turn Kate had boiled her choice of date locations down to just two. One was a zoom around the harbor on a seventy foot speed boat. She could fly a lot faster than that, however, doing it while bouncing on water sounded like fun. Second was a date she couldn't wait to try. She just wasn't sure they – or Rick actually – were ready for it. It was a black light body painting studio. Women were allowed to go topless while their significant others painted their bodies.

While Kate was willing to even go naked so he could paint all of her, she wasn't sure Rick was all that ready. After all they'd only had their first round of sex. Even if it was technically more than one round. A lot more. Still she made a note of the place. She would take him there one of these times.

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Rick stood back and looked over his work. He thought he was done with the mural though he was also betting over time he would find something to add or fix.

It was done in various shades of gray with touches of white. He'd chosen a female angel that was sitting naked on a cloud with her head bowed and one of her legs bent so that her foot was flat on the ground. The other leg was bent and laid on the ground. Between the legs and arms all of the more strategic areas were covered while clearly showing that she was naked.

Her beautiful, large, mostly white wings were not quite unfurled nor were they tucked in behind her. The background was basically more of the cloud that she was sitting on. It was a hint of sexuality while not actually showing anything. The scene was serene and peaceful.

"What do you guys think?" Rick turned to look at the kittens. But he found them all bundled together and basically lying on each other, sound asleep. He just smiled at them. "You can see it tomorrow before we go out looking for more statues."

"Next up, I think, is the wall to plant the bamboo behind with the liner for the pond. I need to go shopping for bamboo plants first." He needed to find, purchase, and arrange to have them delivered. They needed to be young so he could get them into the courtyard. Too tall and he would never get them there unless he flew them in.

Rick headed to his bathroom to shower and get cleaned up. Once he was clean, dry, and dressed he headed to the kitchen to find something to drink then he was going to sit down and search for a cruise for Janelle. A nice Hawaiian cruise that could show her what living in Hawaii would or could be like. No more snow, ice, sweltering heat, brownouts, police sirens, smog, and garbage in the streets.

"Hmm, looks like going solo is going to be expensive." The price didn't stop him since he had the money. The benefit of being an Angel. It wasn't that he was stealing money since stealing was a sin. It was just that all the money he used didn't really exist until he made it. It also wasn't technically fake money.

Rick chose the thirteen-day Hawaii and French Polynesia cruise: Honolulu, Maui, Hilo, Kauai, Nuku Hiva, Moorea, Bora Bora, and Tahiti. It was a mere fourteen thousand two hundred fifty-two dollars and ninety-eight cents with a Presidential Suite located on deck ten, far forward. Then he needed one way airfare to Honolulu and then from Tahiti back to New York City. Naturally she was going to fly first class. That cost him almost as much. It sailed on November first through the fourteenth. That was a few months away and should give her boss plenty of time to make arrangements for her being gone.

Now he just needed a hotel in Honolulu where she could stay for two days before sailing. He needed those two days so she could attend the interview for her new job that he was going to set up in a local Honolulu hospital.

There might be better but there was only the one Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Now he just needed a room for her. Junior Suite with a Garden View. It at least placed her in the older portion of the building instead of the newer tower.

Rick tapped the enter key hard. "There, done." Everything was now arranged and when he got the confirmation information he would print it all, show it to her boss then to her, showing where she was going to be taking her vacation.

Now he needed to arrange for an interview with the hospital. Doing it by email, phone, or whatever wasn't acceptable. He was going to have to fly there and arrange everything. What he needed was a résumé for them to read. He feared that it might be a little harder to obtain. "Good thing I'm an Angel."

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"You three ready for another day of work and play?" Rick picked each of the kittens up, placed them in a box, then added his gun, stake, shackles, and handcuffs. One of the aliens had managed to get free somehow, but the others were still secured in place. He was in a quandary as to how, but if the others were still secure he was going to keep doing it.

"You don't suppose it's because someone views them twenty-four hours a day, do you?" he asked the little furballs and got three squeaky meows back. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

Rick found his taxi waiting for him and gave him the address for a park. He had secured all the ones he had found in that one park so it was time to search another.

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Rick was starting to think this park was a dead end when suddenly he saw one. It was even standing on the concrete walkway making it easy for him.

"Huey, Dewey, Louie, time to get to work." He picked each of them up and set them down on the concrete. Each kitten immediately went over to the statue and sniffed it. The look Rick got had him explaining yet again. "It's a statue when it's being observed, that's why it smells like concrete. Now you three watch it and don't take your eyes off of it." He didn't turn his back on it until he was certain all three of them were watching closely.

The handcuffs went on first and he was just getting his shackles out when he heard a dog barking. He snapped his head around to look and saw a woman walking a bulldog who had spotted his kittens. He also heard his kittens hissing back. That had him whipping his head around to look at the statue since these three likely weren't any longer.

"SORRY!" the lady called out and began pulling on her leash to get her dog to go a different direction.

It took some doing to get the three to go back to watching the statue so he could do his work.

The shackles finally went on then he got his stake and his gun. One quick shot and he was finished. "All done. You three ready for your reward for being so good?" Rick asked and got a lot of meowing in return. He laughed and picked them up one by one, settling them back into his box.

Now he just needed to find a grocery store or market and get a slab of salmon. It wasn't all for them since it would be much too much even for the three of them. They would get just a smidgen while Rick would cook the rest for himself. He didn't want to give them diarrhea.

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Now he needed to figure out where to take her for their next date since he was more than happy to take her out again. They'd done restaurants that allowed them to talk and learn a little more about each other. Maybe it was time to have a little fun and perhaps a challenge. His first thought was bowling, but he rejected it almost as fast. He wasn't sure she was a bowling type of woman. Billiards were his next idea. While he thought she might be more up for that especially if she wore a low cut top, bent over the cue ball, and gave him a free show. He was betting she would be more than willing to play dirty in order to win.

Then he came across something else. How the word SPIN came to be used escaped him, however, it was a game he only knew a little about and was betting she knew about as much. It meant they might be on even ground. "Ping-pong it is, then." They had tables, booths to dine in, and there was also a bar to get drinks.

"Just the place." He made reservations for two. Since it was going to be a Wednesday, if they showed up at nine pm the cost was only nine dollars and they closed at eleven pm. Two hours should be enough for a couple of games. They could arrive early for food and drinks.

They had fifteen tables including the one that was called Center Court with another three tables in a private game room. The bar had stools for eighteen people along with a lounge area to just sit and talk while drinking. He doubted they would have time for that.

He tapped the enter key. "Done!" He was actually looking forward to it no matter who won. He might even let her win, though he wasn't going to make it easy for her.

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Kate had no idea where he was taking her. When the taxi finally stopped she still didn't see all that much. The front of the building looked typical old New York. "What's Spin?" Various ideas came to mind though none of them said date location. She followed him inside after he opened the front door for her. She still wasn't sure about him doing that for her. She had been alone for a long time and had gotten used to doing things for herself.

The first thing she noticed was the tables since the space was large and mostly open save for the wood columns that held up the floors above. "Ping-pong?" She knew of ping-pong but had never played before.

"I thought maybe you would like a challenge. Ready to have me mop the floor with you?" Rick teased.

"HA! In your dreams, mister." She was not losing to him or anyone else. She sized him up with this new information. He was clearly bigger than she was. He was also far more muscled and stronger than she was. But she was thinking this game required more finesse than strength and thought she could take him. After she figured out how this game worked, of course.

"Our table isn't until nine and they close at eleven so food and drink first." Rick then asked for a table to eat at.

The menu had Kate lifting an eyebrow. It clearly wasn't German and it was also clearly pub food. Some of it was stuff she wouldn't eat if she was starving, or maybe she would, but she wasn't that hungry. "You trust me?" She wanted to make the choices for them.

Rick had looked over the menu and there were things there he had no interest in eating. Trust her? What was he going to do if she ordered the Chicken Shawarma, hummus, tomato, pickled onions, spiced tahini, yogurt, tzatziki, and harissa? Hell, he wasn't even sure what some of that was let alone what it tasted like.

"Absolutely." Rick tried to make it sound forceful and that he actually meant it, even if deep down he was worried.

"We'll take two Summer Somewheres (Hendrick's Gin, Cointreau, St. Germain, Pinot Grigio, Pear Liqueur, Lime), Mexican Style Street Popcorn, Duck Duck Goose Sliders (smoked duck leg, crispy duck prosciutto, seared pâté de foie gras, gooseberry), and for dessert we'll have the Giant Sundae Split (salted caramel, whipped cream, cherries, caramelized banana)." Kate handed her menu to their server as did Rick.

"Ping-pong, huh?" She was curious as to why this. Not that she was a great tennis player or even bowler, so even those she would be challenged to play. Let alone baseball, basketball, or even football (soccer). Thankfully most of those were not one on one type of games.

"Scared?" Rick smiled broadly at her since he really wanted to see a different part of her.

"I'm going to have you cleaning my feet with your tongue. You are so losing." Kate glared at him to enforce her point.

"Care to put your money where your mouth is? Unless you don't have money?" Rick kept smiling since this was still him learning more about her. She was tall, she was beautiful, and she seemed to have a fire in her. Kate was definitely not some wimpy female.

"Hmm." Kate had already learned that he was damn good in bed. What he did to her was something no one, man or woman, had ever done to her. She was even hoping for a repeat tonight.

The only money she had was the money she had found and their credit cards, so getting money might be helpful. Except that wasn't all that personal. Maybe something that might scare him.

"I win and I get to tie you to the bed one of these times." She had no intention of stopping dating him. So far the dates were fun and it was the best sex ever.

Rick raised an eyebrow. She chose sex and not just any sex, dominating sex at that.

Kate started to worry that she'd overdone it. They hadn't been on that many dates. They knew only just so much about each other. Still she wanted him to be comfortable with her enough for them to go practically naked so they could paint each other. Sex while painted under black lights might be mind-altering.

He cocked his head. "And when _I_ win?"

That made Kate smile. She hadn't taken things too far if he wanted to know what he got if somehow he miraculously managed to win. Maybe just reverse the rolls? Letting him tie her to the bed was really going to challenge her and scare her.

She bit her lower lip. "Tie _me_ to the bed, perhaps?" Maybe he had a better idea. Something less painful for her.

Rick smiled since what he saw and not just what she said but how she said it already told him a lot. She liked being in control even though when he ate her pussy she totally lost control. Still maybe a little something extra. Could he scare her out of this idea? Or would it take them to some place new?

"With a ball gag no matter who wins?" Not just physical control but verbal control as well.

Kate felt her heart stop. He wasn't scared and yet he had some how made her scared and this had been _her_ idea. Be tied to the bed and gagged. Begging and screaming wouldn't be heard no matter who won.

Suddenly seeing Rick naked, tied to the bed with a gag in his mouth and totally under her control was something she couldn't resist. "Deal! I'm so going to make you suffer." She wouldn't even be able to hear him begging for release.

Rick was wondering if all this was too soon for them. Still finding these items was going to take time. Maybe a couple more dates. Maybe that should be part of this bet. "Two weeks from now. Give us some time to find the right items."

That had Kate thinking. Two weeks from now gave her time to find and buy what she wanted to use on him. Plus if they kept up the dates of every two days that meant it would happen something like six dates from now. They would know a lot more about each other by then.

"I accept," she said just as their food arrived.

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Kate didn't want to be drunk when she played, since she didn't want to lose for a number of reasons now. But she'd never played this game so losing was actually a possibility. As a result she hadn't stopped Rick from reordering drinks. They both now had three drinks in them when their table came open and it was time to play.

"You want to serve or do I?" They had two large buckets filled with balls for them to use.

"Just serve, Rick, and prepare to lose." Kate held her paddle in a death grip and was all set to blast that tiny white ball back at him and win this game. She had plans for that body of his.

"Okay." Rick was beginning to think that she was taking this just a little too seriously. It was just a silly game and meant to be fun. He hit the ball and watched it bounce once before going over the net.

Kate saw it coming; she wound up, whacked it really hard, watched it fly past Rick's head, and hit someone in the back who turned to look at what hit him. "Sorry." She hadn't meant to do that.

Okay, so bashing the little white ball didn't work; what did work? Kate readied herself. "Serve, Rick." This time she tried bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Rick hit the ball and watched it go over the net and miss her side of the table completely. He hung his head in defeat. "Your serve." One of their challenges was they didn't know the rules. So they were unconsciously using volleyball rules. If you won, you served. If you lost, you received.

What Kate really wanted to do was blast the ball across the net. Problem was they'd already learned that it had to hit your side first before going over the net. So she hit the ball, watched it go over the net, then hit Rick in the stomach. "Sorry." So far this game wasn't any fun at all. It was pissing her off especially knowing what the stakes were. Visions of a naked Rick tied to the bed with a gag in his mouth were dancing in her head.

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Kate was now beyond angry at this game. She was furious. Nothing she did worked. Her only consolation was that Rick was just as bad at this game as she was.

Then Rick did something unexpected. He screwed up yet again and started laughing. He did it again, and again, and again. The more he screwed up, the harder he laughed.

Kate couldn't help it. The ball she hit didn't even come close to hitting the table and it had her smiling. Then Rick's serve didn't go well and he tossed his paddle onto the table and began laughing even harder than before.

"We suck at this game," Rick observed while laughing. He picked up his paddle. "Okay, serve. One of us has to do this right. Someone has to win and not by accident." One of the problems was that neither of them actually knew what the score was. Everything was going so badly that they hadn't been keeping score.

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They were walking out of the place arm in arm and laughing the entire way. They both sucked at ping-pong and at the moment Kate didn't care. What had started out to be one big pain in the ass had turned into one of their better dates.

Kate had really wanted to win and mop the floor with him. However, right now she couldn't remember being this happy. Rick had somehow made this date really fun.

She was content to just lean into him and giggle at some of tonight's memories as they took a taxi back to her place.

"Are you coming up or do your kittens need you?" She couldn't wait to have his head planted firmly between her legs. It was going to be the cap to her best night ever.

"I'm all yours," Rick told her.

"Yes, you are, baby, all mine. Now let's go, I want you." Kate took his hand, dragged him up to the penthouse, and into the bedroom.

Kate was soon naked and on the bed. "Eat me, baby, make me come." She wanted him to make her lose her mind. He was magic in bed and she couldn't wait to have so many orgasms that her mind shut down and her body took over.

Who won and who was going to get tied to the bed with a gag in their mouth was just going to have to wait for another time.

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Kate woke up and found the bed empty. "Damn it!" She had wanted to wake up next to him for a change. She didn't know why exactly but she wanted it. Except he was usually in the shower when she woke up so she got up.

She saw his and her clothes scattered all over the place. Stepping into the bathroom told her that he wasn't there, either. "So where is he, unless he went home naked."

She headed for another section of the place and stopped fast at the hallway. He was in the kitchen, he was cooking, and he was naked while doing it.

She didn't see much thanks to the island and his back was to her as he was actually cooking something and she could hear it sizzling.

Kate carefully came up behind him and saw him cooking bacon. She wrapped her arms around him and felt him stiffen in surprise for a second then relax. "Cooking?" She was pretty sure he had said he couldn't cook.

"I haven't burned anything yet, but it's still early," he warned.

"Out of the way, lover. I'll do the cooking before you start burning it." Kate nudged him aside and took over.

It allowed Rick to stand back and watch. "Are you staring at my ass?" Kate didn't even turn to look. She even shook her backside a little while she smiled since she was sure he was.

"The bacon's done." She was thinking eggs were next followed by toast, coffee, and even some juice.

"Good!" Rick took her and twisted her around so that she faced the island. Then he used a hand to force her to bend over. "Don't move."

Rick took his erection and rubbed it up and down against her core. He heard her start to complain about being forced to bend over only now she was moaning.

"Fuck me, lover. Make me come all over your cock." But Rick just kept on rubbing his cock against the lips of her core. It was getting her really wet.

"Baby, please. Fuck me." He had given her so many orgasms last night that she couldn't even begin to count. Yet right now what she wanted was to have him inside her. She didn't care that he had reduced her to begging. She just wanted to be fucked.

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Rick was dressed while she had stayed naked. They met at her front door. "Two days again? Your turn for who decides where we go and what we do." Rick was ready for another date.

"Deal! I still have to find something you can lose at so I can tie you to the bed." She might not ever let him go. The idea of letting him up to at least use the bathroom hadn't entered her mind.

"We'll just have to see about that." Rick wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Then he put his hands on her ass, lifted her up, shoved her up against the wall, and kept kissing her. Kate wrapped her legs around him and kissed him back with passion. She was actually willing to have him stay for still more sex.

Rick broke from the kiss and let her down. "Two days." One quick kiss later and he was gone.

Kate turned and leaned against the door. "What the hell have you done to me?" She was weak in the knees and she really wanted him to stay.


	12. Chapter 12

**It's all about Time**

_Chapter 12_

Kate was presently sitting outside in one of the chairs on the patio of her penthouse. She was reflecting on the last few days. Especially her latest date with Rick playing ping-pong. That stupid game had started out pissing her off. Really pissing her off. Finesse had its part in life but her life had never been about finesse. Life had been hard and men had always tried to use her. It was why she'd leapt at the chance to be a spy in the States. It meant she would be on her own and away from men ordering her around or trying to take advantage of her.

Rick was nice, almost too nice. He'd gotten her to laugh at herself for being so damn bad at ping-pong. He had turned what had been a really bad date into one she was never going to forget. He'd somehow managed to make it fun.

That had been followed by sex that truly boggled her mind. She still didn't understand how he did what he did. He turned her into an orgasm machine. She couldn't concentrate to ask him to stop even if she'd wanted him to. She couldn't even maintain control over her own body. She had been forced to just let her body have orgasms until she literally passed out.

It was just that she was there to help the aliens harm the human race. In fact she should be out there right now looking for them and trying to help them. One of the challenges with doing it at night was not getting touched. She might be the Dark Phoenix with amazing powers, but even she could be touched and sent back in time.

She sat there wondering what to do next. The longer she kept seeing Rick the more she was going to wish her life was different. The more she would want to keep him in any way possible. It was just that keeping him long term wasn't really possible. Not for her, not now.

"But I want him. …What the hell has he done to me?" She really needed to start coming up with their next date location, however she was stuck reflecting on what her life could have been. That was until someone knocked on her front door. Her date with Rick wasn't for another couple of days but it didn't stop her from wishing it was him. She already missed him.

She opened the door and found a pair of cops on the other side. "Mrs. Campbell?"

Kate immediately knew they were looking for the couple that used to live there. Now she had a new problem that needed to be dealt with. "They're not here. They're on vacation. I'm house sitting. Can I help you with something?" she lied perfectly.

"May we come inside?" They needed to be allowed to enter to search the place. They didn't know who this person was and the man that sent them there hadn't said anything about a house sitter.

"Of course. Please." Kate stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. She closed the door behind them and turned to see them looking the space over. The place was rather impressive. It was one of the reasons she had chosen it.

But she knew she didn't have any identification and that they would ask for some soon, so these two had to go. Kate became the Dark Phoenix and shot multiple needles of fire into their bodies, about twelve to thirteen for each of them. Every fiery needle went through their bodies and came out the opposite side with ease. They were both effectively dead before their bodies hit the floor. A drawback to this was that now they began to bleed onto the floor.

"Damn it! Now I have to either get rid of you two and find a new place to live." She could get rid of the bodies easily but she knew other officers would show up looking for these two. She could easily just kill them as well. It was just that she couldn't keep that up forever.

"And what the fuck do I tell Rick after I move?" These two just made her continuing to date Rick that much more difficult. As much as she hated the idea she might have to stop seeing him. She was there to help the aliens, after all. Rick was just a benefit of this job.

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Kate had gotten rid of the cops and since they were now both ash floating around the city with the wind, it should keep the other cops busy wondering just where they were.

She'd also packed up all of the clothes and other things she'd purchased for herself into a small suitcase and moved into a new place to live. It was another penthouse apartment in a slightly different part of the city. It had meant getting rid of the occupants, but she didn't have a problem with that. This time it had meant a man and a woman as well as a child about five years old.

Now she had one whole day to try and get used to the new place as well as search for money, credit cards, and anything else she might be able to use.

Her new address was 12 Greene Street, SoHo, New York, New York. It was so totally different from her last home. There were two different open air terraces. One had a shallow reflecting pool. She was also convinced these people had a green thumb since there were plants everywhere on both terraces. There was also a whole lot of glass.

Unfortunately they had very questionable taste in interiors. The dining room was filled with really dark gray wood walls and flooring. So dark that they were almost black. And then there was the master suite. They had used a very bright and colorful floral wallpaper on three of the walls. Even worse was the fact that they'd found a matching fabric and hung it from the ceiling. It made the ceiling over the bed barely seven feet tall. It was hideous and right after her date with Rick she was ripping it down. Maybe she'd even buy some paint and paint the walls. She wasn't sleeping in this room with it looking like this.

There were at least two more bedrooms and maybe a third though the third was so tiny and didn't have a closet so she didn't know what that room was used for. There were four bathrooms and a mini kitchen on the roof. There were also three skylights with two open to areas below. Save for the dark dining room and that stupid bedroom she kind of liked it. The kitchen was even larger than the old kitchen and had a lot more storage. It was closed off from the rest of the place.

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Right now she was outside her old home waiting for Rick to show up for their date. She needed to intercept him before he went inside since she didn't live there any longer. She'd come up with a reason to tell him. It was believable enough that he shouldn't question her.

She was looking forward to their date. He was supposed to show up in time for lunch so they would have all day and all night together. Wrapped up in her thoughts she actually almost missed him. She didn't know why but she hadn't been expecting him to be walking down the sidewalk to her building. She was expecting him to get out of a taxi. Seeing him had her running down the sidewalk. "Rick!" She caught him at the door.

"Hi, what are you doing out here?" He was expecting to find her inside her apartment.

"Small complication. You ready to go?" They needed a taxi.

"I'm all yours," he said with a smile and received a quick kiss for that. Then he watched her flag down a taxi for the trip.

"A hotel?" Rick questioned as the taxi stopped and they got out.

"They have two roofs and what we want is on both of them. I'm not sure just which roof we get." It had cost her a pretty penny. Well, the people that held the credit card she had used, that is.

Rick followed her since this was her date and raised both eyebrows when he saw where they were headed. "Tents?" There were three of them on this roof. Inside he saw a picnic table, Adirondack chairs, and a fake fireplace. It was actually a pretty good-sized tent. The flaps were tied open but it looked like if you wanted to you could close them and gain some form of privacy. "A picnic on a roof inside a tent. Interesting." He was thinking a picnic should be in a park or something, not a roof.

Kate grinned at him. "We can close the tent and you can bend me over the picnic table and take me if you'd rather do that."

Sex seemed to be something they had in common ever since they had started dating. "On a picnic table on a roof inside a tent… Kinky." Rick saw her smile grow wider. "Before or after lunch?" He was quite willing.

She almost squealed in delight. "After. I need the energy first." They waited for their attendant to appear so they could order drinks and food.

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"So where are your parents?" Rick asked while they ate.

That had Kate raising an eyebrow. So far they'd avoided talking about most of their past or even talking about their families or lack thereof. So what could she tell him? "They're dead." It was actually the truth. It was the year 2012 now so they were long since gone.

"Sorry." Rick feared he had hit a nerve. "So are mine. Seems we have that in common." He sighed. "Not having parents sucks." He missed them a lot.

"Yeah," Kate agreed easily. Making decisions with no support. No one to talk to. She was alone.

"Brothers or sisters?" he inquired only to watch her shake her head. She was an only child. "Neither do I. It was just me and mother all my life." He loved her and missed her terribly.

Kate heard something in that statement. "Your father?"

Rick shook his head. "He was a one night stand and I was the result. Mother never blamed him. He didn't even know that I existed. Mother did the best she could all her life. We never had all that much. I went through more babysitters that you could possibly imagine." He chuckled at the memory.

Kate smiled. It sounded far too much like her life. Save that she'd had both parents. "We never had all that much, either. Home was given to us by the State." The ruling power had taken them from the Jews and given them to certain families.

"They called me the miracle baby. My brother and sister both died from crib death, so I was told. They feared I would be joining them." Rick was the first person she had ever told that to. She couldn't help but tell him. Being around him was comforting as well as pleasurable.

"In Germany," he guessed since she spoke fluent German at the restaurant. She had even ordered their meal in German.

Kate nodded. "Germany was nice, it really was. The people were great and so helpful. It was a small town so everyone knew everyone." She laughed a little. "No one had secrets and everyone was a matchmaker. Every boy in town was my future boyfriend." She shook her head.

"And were they?" He had her talking and wanted to keep her engaged.

"One was. We lasted maybe six months before his family moved. My parents sent me to school in a larger city not long after that. I spent my days in the dorm or in the school rooms. That and the library." Kate had tried not to remember too much of those days.

They had finished eating and she got up and pulled the tent flaps closed. "Strip, baby, we're going to put this picnic table to better use," she told him after tying the flaps together. It left gaps so if anyone wanted to they could look inside and watch them. Something she didn't care about.

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Kate was smiling and actually felt really happy as she started untying the strings that held their tent's opening closed.

They'd had sex before and it had been amazing. However, most of it had centered around her. Rick ate her pussy and made sure she had more orgasms than she'd ever thought was possible. Then she had finally had him inside her. She'd really never done anything for him. Until now.

Yes, he had bent her over the picnic table and fucked her just like she had wanted him to. Granted it had been amazing. But before they got to that point she'd gotten on her knees and given his cock the complete tongue lashing it so richly deserved. She had even allowed him to climax in her mouth and she'd swallowed all of it.

She had kept licking and sucking his cock until he was hard again. That was when she was bent over the picnic table and so thoroughly fucked. She was certain that she'd screamed and begged him to fuck her. The tent walls were obviously thin, not that that had stopped her or even had been a consideration.

She didn't even scream when suddenly Rick's arms came around her from behind. She abandoned getting out of their tent and turned to face him. What she saw was his smile. "You in a hurry to leave?" he questioned.

Kate lifted her arms and slipped them around his neck. "No, but we only have this place for a couple of hours and I think our time's up. You have something on your mind?" Their lunch date was over but she was willing to spend the rest of the day with him and then all night.

He caressed her cheek. "If you're not in a hurry to go home I was thinking maybe we'd take a walk in the park."

She tilted her head and looked at him. "Are you just wanting to go find your statues in cuffs?"

Rick laughed softly. "Guilty as charged. There's just something about those statues that intrigues me. You don't suppose that they aren't actually statues, do you? I mean who makes statues that you can't see?" He looked deeply into her eyes.

"Living statues? What exactly did you have for lunch?" Kate teased, knowing full well that they were in fact real aliens.

"Well, it wasn't you. Not yet," he smiled and Kate was sure a blush was starting. This man was doing something to her and at the moment she didn't want it to stop. "Perhaps after our walk and maybe dinner somewhere we can fix that oversight," he suggested and silenced her response with a kiss.

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They had chosen a park at random and started walking, hand in hand. Both were happy to have the other close as they walked.

"Have you found a place to sing yet?" He really wanted to listen to her sing. "I can help you look for a venue if you'd like."

"No." Actually she hadn't considered trying. It was just something to tell him to cover what she was really there for. Not that she was even doing that. Her life was revolving around going out on dates and having mind-blowing sex.

"Then I guess I'll have to start looking for someplace special. That or you're going to have to give me a private concert." Rick leaned across as they walked and whispered into her ear. "I want to hear your voice."

Singing was something she had done to cover her work during the war. She was good enough to get by, but hadn't really thought of herself as being anyone special. Her voice wasn't that good. She was betting most of the men were looking at her boobs and the slit in her dress that showed off her long legs and not listening to how good a singer she was.

"Fine." He could look for a venue that would allow her to sing and get noticed. Besides looking for statues and helping them somehow it would give her something to do.

"I don't know where you live." It was the reason why she had to stake out where she used to live. It if happened again she could go to him.

"I rent a room and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to have a guest. We haven't talked about it, but I can show you where." Rick didn't mind.

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They hadn't found any statues with or without cuffs or shackles and were now in front of where Rick lived. "I live downstairs," he explained as he unlocked the door and led her down the stairs.

"Wow!" It definitely wasn't what she was expecting. He'd said that he was renting a room. She was thinking a typical bedroom with a bed and a dresser. The only thing this space was missing was a kitchen. It was huge just to be a bedroom. It was also a little barren and lacked personality. Save for the old wood joists at the ceiling there was nothing interesting about it except for the size.

"All this came with the space," he said.

Kate saw a place to sit, a place to eat, a dresser, and his bed. "Where do the stairs go?" The far wall held the only windows this place had along with another door. She started up the stairs.

"That leads to the courtyard. I'm decorating it. …Wait! It's not finished yet!" She needed to stop before she saw it. He only wanted her to see it after he was done.

Kate didn't stop, though, and she opened the door and went outside. Rick raced up the stairs to join her and tried to explain before she started dreaming up ideas based on what she saw.

What she saw was a mess. There were piles of stuff seemingly everywhere. There was a big hole in the ground that was maybe three feet wide and three feet deep and went from wall to wall. But what was on the wall was what had her attention.

"What's that?" Actually she knew what it was. It was just something she hadn't expected to find.

Rick stood behind her and looked at his mural. "You. It's what I see when I look at you."

"WHAT?" Her eyes huge, she turned to look at him. He couldn't possibly be serious. What was on the wall was clearly an angel and she was anything but that.

"You're the inspiration for the mural. That's what I see when I see you. You really should have waited until I was finished." It still looked a little raw and wasn't even close to being done. His bamboo hadn't arrived yet. He hadn't even started on the two islands that would hold the fire pits. They were even standing on dirt.

"You think… You really see…" She shook her head in disbelief. At one point in her life when she was really little she had dreamed of being an angel. Then her life had made a major change. Right after her parents had been killed. It had been blamed on the Jews. Now she was an agent of evil. She worked for Lucifer himself.

She felt tears begin to roll down her face. A life that she might have had was in front of her. The man that she greatly feared she was falling in love with and could do nothing to stop herself, saw this when he looked at her.

Kate had her hands over her mouth and let the tears flow. This amazing, naïve, sexy hunk of a man thought she was an angel. It was all too much for her. The life she was never going to have and what her life was now was just too much.

"No, this isn't me. I'm so sorry." Kate ran for the door, racing down the stairs, across his room, and back up the stairs. She burst out of the door and dashed toward the closest alley where she could change and fly away.

"WAIT!" She wasn't allowing him to explain. Why was she running? She was a real angel and he was falling in love with her.

By the time he reached the front door and was out onto the sidewalk he couldn't see her. She was gone. He at least knew where she lived so he could follow her home.

She was an angel and amazing so why was she running? He was sure he was seeing what she truly was. What could she possibly be afraid of?


	13. Chapter 13

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 13_

Kate was depressed, seriously depressed. It wasn't her new surroundings exactly, though her new place might have something to do with it. Maybe depressed wasn't the right word. She was hurting and it wasn't because she had fallen down the stairs, or tripped over a curb, or done some other stupid thing.

She hadn't seen Rick in an entire two weeks. All she did was mope around the apartment. One day she hadn't even bothered to take a shower. Another day she hadn't even bothered to get dressed. She'd spent the entire day naked. Not that she went anywhere.

She didn't go shopping. She didn't go out to eat. But she had used some of her precious cold hard cash to have something delivered. And even then she had mostly picked at it. What she didn't eat went into Tupperware and into the refrigerator. Which was were she was now. Standing there in a t-shirt and panties looking at what she had to eat.

"Damn it to hell!" She slammed the refrigerator door closed in disgust. She wasn't even really hungry. What she didn't fail to notice was the tears that were forming in her eyes yet again.

There was one good thing about her new place. These people had liquor and while there was beer, they also had the harder stuff. That was what she was reaching for now.

It might be vodka that had actually been made in a stinking country called Russia. However, vodka was the only thing that stinking country had going for it. That and a glass and she headed for one of the terraces. She didn't even care that it was a little cool outside, or the fact that it was misting rain. The entire weather fit her mood perfectly. SHITTY!

She missed him fiercely.

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Rick at least knew where she lived and had even spent some time in her apartment. He was willing to admit that her idea of decor was different. Though he was betting each piece held a story as to why she had it.

Strangely his taxi couldn't stop outside of the building. That area was filled with police cars, most of which still had their blinking lights on. There were uniformed officers all over the place.

Still no one stopped him from going inside and then up the elevator to her floor. And once the elevator doors opened he found still more officers in uniforms. He didn't even get a chance to step off the elevator. "I'm sorry sir, this level is closed." He was holding up his hand to keep him from stepping out. Puzzled, Rick pressed the button that would send him back down to ground level.

Once there he went outside and walked down the street where he stopped and looked up. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There was no smoke and no fire. The windows looked to be intact. He looked around and all he saw was police cars. No firetrucks and no ambulances. Her apartment was the only one on that floor. "What happened?"

As he kept watching he saw two men in suits with uniform officers right behind them come running out. They stopped and scanned the entire area. Rick knew that look. They were looking for someone and since he had precious little in information he chose to simply walk away.

He knew when that officer had stopped him and sent him back down that it was stupid. The fact that he'd shown up meant he knew something and any detectives that were up there would want to talk with him. It was what he would have done.

The police would be a good place to ask questions about why they were there, but he didn't need that trouble. Then a thought hit him and his heart began to race. Were they there because Kate had been found dead?

It was troubling enough that he turned back around and stopped at the corner so he could look up. The idea that she was up there lying dead somewhere pained him…a lot. It also told him a lot about what he thought of her. He was falling in love with her if he wasn't already. She was beautiful, she was tall, and she was a bit of a mystery. The biggest one was why had she run away after seeing his mural and who had been his inspiration for it.

He knew Kate was a little dark, but then he'd never met a saint or even knew if there were any. Everyone had dark parts in their past, even him.

So why was she so certain that she wasn't an angel? He saw the potential for her to be one; why didn't she?

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Rick was done with his courtyard. It had been just over three full weeks since Kate had run away and now he was sitting on one of the chairs at the small table that he had painted to make them look new again.

Everything was done. The mural was complete, the bamboo was planted, the islands were in place, the little fire pits were lit using a gel from a thirteen ounce can. He even had a few spares. He had filled the pit with water after putting in a liner. The existing pavers had been cleaned and installed properly this time. It was as perfect as he could make it. The only drawback was that the bamboo was really young. So all those tiny green leaves blocked his mural a bit too much. At least bamboo grew really fast so in a few short weeks it would be towering high above the wall. The shafts ranged from four inches round to six inches.

"Hi, guys, what do you think?" Huey, Louie, and Dewey were awake and looking the entire place over. "Sorry the pond doesn't have any fish. Maybe a few gold fish if Janelle is willing." He didn't have a pump so the water wasn't oxygenated for larger fish like koi.

He even laughed when one of them tested the water with a paw then started shaking it to get it dry again. If they ever figured it out they could jump to the island, not end up getting burnt, then jump to the bamboo and even climb it. So his mural was safe from them.

"You think she's been sneaking peeks?" He had instructed Janelle not to peek until he was done. He wasn't sure she hadn't but hopefully she hadn't seen it looking like this. In any case Rick just sat there and sipped his cold Coke that had a little whiskey in it.

"You're still an angel." Rick lifted his glass in tribute then sipped it, all the while looking at his mural.

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Her nerves were getting more jangled the closer the taxi got to the address. She was actually scared. She was tired of living with the pain of missing him. It was just that the pain of being rejected after they talked might end up being worse. She was even willing to go to the extreme of capturing him and holding him against his will.

She needed him and he could learn to like being hers. But that wasn't really what she wanted. She wanted him to want her for her sake. Not because he was her slave.

She paid the taxi and watched it leave. Then she turned to look at the building. It looked like any other New York building. Though the construction of something big right next door kind of detracted from it a bit. Living next door to that thing wasn't going to be much fun. Now or when it was done.

Her mind was trying to tell her to go away. Go back to why she'd been sent there, something she hadn't done for the last three weeks. Her thoughts were centered on only one person and he needed to be here. If she had to come back, she might not do it.

Kate pressed the doorbell and waited. Finally an older woman answered the door. She was still rather lovely. Kate had little doubt that when she was much younger she had been a real beauty.

"Hi, is Rick home?" She actually feared the worse.

"He's in his room, I think. May I ask who you are?" She couldn't just let anyone into her home.

"My name is Kate." She didn't think that would help her any but it at least answered her question.

"You're Kate!" Janelle looked her over with fresh eyes. It gave her a new reason as to why Rick was moping around the house. He was working on the courtyard, but he did nothing else. She had questioned why and had learned a little about her. She was fairly certain that Rick was in love with her.

"He's in his room. Down the stairs." She opened the door wide and stepped aside to let her in.

She watched as Kate went down the stairs and turned to go down the next set of stairs. "Good luck, my dear." Rick was such a kind soul and she only wanted good things for him.

Kate found his room and it looked the same as last time. The main area was empty. A quick look into his bedroom told her he wasn't there either. She had walked past his bathroom and decided to try the courtyard first before waiting for him to come out of the bathroom if he was in there.

Her courage was failing fast with each step she took to reach the courtyard. The place that held a mural that he had told her was essentially dedicated to her. The place she had run from last time she was there.

She saw him before she even reached the door. He was just sitting there at a small table drinking something. She could also see most of the courtyard. It looked finished to her. She couldn't see most of the mural thanks to some plants so that helped a little.

Once she actually saw him her courage returned with a vengeance. It didn't prevent her heart from pounding in her chest. Seeing him told her why she was there, beyond the fact that he didn't know where she lived now. She was there because she loved him and wanted him back. They could talk about this angel stuff and work it out.

Right now they had to get past her running away, something she'd never dreamed she would do. She had always thought of herself as being strong. However, this man had managed to make her weak.

Rick heard the door open and assumed it was Janelle coming to look since she couldn't wait any longer. But it wasn't Janelle, it was Kate. The sight of her caused him to spit his drink out. He swiped the back of his hand over his mouth then stood up quickly. "Kate!?" She was the last person he expected. His heart soared. It meant she wasn't dead like he feared. Unanswered was why the police were at her place.

"Hi." She couldn't believe she was this nervous. She wasn't some young teenager. Rick meant so very much to her. "Can I come in?" Yes, Janelle had let her into the house, but was she welcome there by him?

"Absolutely!" Rick left his drink behind and didn't stop moving until he had his arms around her followed by kissing her. He felt her stiffen at first before she melted into him and kissed him back.

Kate suddenly felt so much better. He wasn't angry with her and he was clearly happy to see her. He was still a good kisser and she couldn't resist but melt into him. When she broke from the kiss she buried her head into his chest and held onto him while his arms held her tight. She was right where she wanted to be. Now she had to work out how to stay there.

"You're alive." Rick had never been so happy about anything in his life.

That had Kate scrunching up her face. What was he talking about? "Why would I not be?" She wanted to stay right where she was but she let go of him just enough for her to look up at him.

"I went to your place after you left. I didn't want you to leave. I wanted to understand why you reacted the way you did and why you left. Your place was filled with police when I got there," Rick said and looked at her.

"Oh." She had anticipated that the police would come looking for the other officers. She hadn't planned on Rick being there when they did. It only reinforced why she had chosen to come here. If she was going to get to keep him they needed to talk. Her trepidation about what he would think after she told him was now her next biggest fear.

"You can explain later. I'm just glad you're here." Rick pulled her back into him and felt her come willingly. He stood there reveling in the feeling of having her in his arms again. It only reinforced how he felt about her. He loved her. Next came the challenge of telling her.

She was there and he would like to keep holding her but they had to move on. He let go of her and stepped away half a step. "I'm done, what do you think?" He was proud of his work.

The floor had a pattern to it based mostly on the color of the stones. The fire pits were lit and they were surrounded by water. The only painted wall was the one that had the mural on it. The house made up two of the other walls while the last wall was unremarkable concrete.

"I can't see your angel all that well." She didn't know if it was supposed to look that way.

"The bamboo is young, it'll grow at least thirty feet tall. All that leaf will be way up there in a few months. It'll leave the bamboo poles to partially obscure the mural. Basically it'll be a tease making you want to see more," he explained.

Kate looked at it with this new information. To her the bamboo was starting to look more like bars trapping it on the other side. Though he was right, it was a tease. For that reason she began to like it.

Rick risked talking about what had her running away the last time. If they couldn't get past it, they might be over and never get any further in their relationship. "You still think it's not you?"

"Yes. I mean, no. …I mean, it's not me. You don't understand." She had so much to tell him and she was sure he was going to dump her after she did. Just telling him was the only way she could think of getting to keep him. He was going to hate her.

"Then help me understand, Kate. …Please." Rick truly wanted to understand and keep seeing her. Except some of what he felt when she was near him told him it might be scary. "I promise not to freak out."

Kate feared he didn't mean it and would do a lot more than just freak out. She gathered her courage, stepping into him and wrapping her arms around him. She was there because she'd reached a conclusion. She needed to explain just who and what she was. Would he understand? Was he willing to listen to all of it?

Rick held her tight and waited for her to explain.

"Kiss me first?" Kate looked up at him. It might be her very last kiss from him.

Rick didn't understand but was more than willing to kiss her. What neither of them saw was Janelle was doing more than just peeking. She was watching them intently. She loved watching young love. These two had all of their lives together.

Then she left them alone and moved to the kitchen. That was where she found a large manila envelope with her name on it. She needed coffee first so she started the machine before opening it and spilling its contents out onto the countertop.

The first thing she found was a handwritten note.

_My dear__ Janelle,_

_I know you built this home with your husband and I am truly sorry for your los__s__. God has a plan for all of us. Our goal is to try and understand just what that plan is. To help you understand I have a story for you._

_There was a man who was trapped in the wilderness. It was winter and he was sinking slowly __in a bog__ and he was all alone. However he had total faith that God would save him._

_Then a man with a dog sled came along and offered to help the man escape. The man refused. He was resolute __in his belief__ that God would save him. The man with the sled didn't understand but if the man wasn't willing to help him save him there was nothing he could do__,__ so he left._

_The man with the sled came back an hour later and the man that was trapped __had__ sunk into the ground even f__a__rther. Again he offered to rescue him. __And a__gain the man refused__, __saying that he had faith that God would save him. Once again the man with the sled le__ft__._

_A couple of hours later the man with the sled __wa__s back. By now the man's head __wa__s all that he could see. Once __more__ he offer__ed__ to try and save him. __As before__ the man __wa__s resolute that God w__ould__ save him and sen__t__ him away._

_The man died. When he reached the __P__early __G__ates and met God, he had a question for God. "I've always believed in __Y__ou. Why didn't __Y__ou save me?"_

_God's answer was __this,__ "What do you mean__?__ I sent the sled to you three times."_

_The meaning behind this is that God sends sleds to everyone when they need them. Your job is to recognize the sled__,__ accept the help__, __and let God help you. In this envelope is your sled._

_Enclosed you will find a __ticket for a__ Hawaiian __c__ruise complete with a hotel stay on Waikiki for two days so you can enjoy Honolulu. Then a seven night cruise will take you to other Hawaiian islands. It__'__s already paid for and scheduled. Your boss has agreed to your request for vacation time._

_Also enclosed is __a fact sheet and photos of__ a lovely condo in Honolulu that after you sell this house, you can easily afford. Look it over, take a tour of it after talking to the real estate agent in Honolulu._

_I__n __addition there'__s a date and time for an interview __at__ a local hospital in Honolulu that__'__s in desperate need for __a doctor__ just like you. Listen to them. Listen to what they__'__re offering. You are needed there. Let them show you the people._

_Your life is far from over. Hawaii is a place where you can start a new adventure. Meet someone just like your husband or maybe someone so different that you can't ignore him._

_God is sending you a sled. The only question you need to answer is __this:__ are you going to accept it and let __H__im help you? I believe in you and I always will._

_Your friend for life__,_

_Richard Castle_


	14. Chapter 14

**It's about Time**

_Chapter 14_

Kate woke up and found herself right where she wanted to be. Even better, a very naked, very buff Rick was basically all over her. His arm was holding her tight to him and they were face to face. All she saw was his closed eyes. Though as more of her woke up she also felt his body next to hers.

All those times when she had woken up alone after such amazing sex she had either found him in the shower or in the kitchen trying to cook for her. She'd had to take over to prevent him from burning the place down, but he was at least still there. Now he was right where she wanted him.

She had deflected his questions, saying she didn't want him angry with her which she was convinced that he would be. He had promised that he wouldn't be angry with her, but she knew different.

In the end she'd won by agreeing to talk about it tomorrow. After sex, the type of sex she had come to love with him. Granted it had been mostly one-sided with his head planted firmly between her legs. She still wasn't just sure when her mind left her and her body took over. She now relished what he could do to her. After three weeks of pain and displeasure that made her life miserable, she was now happy.

"Morning." She heard Rick's voice and she had been caught daydreaming and she actually started to blush. She glanced up at him looked directly into his eyes. All she saw there was love. She was already calm and relaxed, now she was even more so.

"Morning," Kate murmured and couldn't resist reaching out to give him a quick kiss. She even overlooked his – and likely her own – morning breath. She finally liked or actually loved what this man had done to her.

"Ready to talk to me now?" He had wanted answers last night and had reluctantly let her deflect and delay. It was time to pay up.

Kate groaned and tilted her head down so she didn't have to look at him. She was still enjoying the morning and Rick wanted to ruin it.

"I've already promised that I won't be angry," he said quietly as he used a finger to tip her head back up so he could see her eyes. "So? …It's time for the truth."

She gave him another quick kiss since it might be her last. She decided to start way back long before he met her. "It was 1939. My parents were dead. I was singing and stealing to survive. Then I was found by the State. At first I feared what they were going to do. However, they had decided that the Jews were the problem and I could either go to prison or I could infiltrate the Jewish population and feed them information. …I chose to be a spy.

"Then the war started and the State feared the United States so I was given a new choice. I chose to go to the U.S. and steal military information. Once again I chose to be a spy." Kate gave him a moment to tell her to stop and get out. But he didn't. He just laid there and kept looking at her. In fact he didn't say anything at all. She took a deep breath and kept going. "I was doing relatively well. I was gathering information, though none of it was overly important. Then I got a chance at a colonel and a general. I actually gained a lot of information. And I also killed both of them." Kate paused yet again so Rick could tell her to get out, but he didn't.

"I was about to escape when I was discovered and chased by the military police. I created a crash to try and help get away. Except it didn't totally work out. I crashed and was ultimately killed." Kate paused again since she had just told him that she was dead. Except he just kept looking at her.

"That was when I met the Devil. I was in Hell except it didn't really look like Hell. There was no fire, no volcanoes, no flowing lava. It was rather hot but it was a desert. Just not the Sahara Desert. More a high desert with scrub brush. He gave me a task to do and since that got me out of Hell, I took it. I ended up killing someone then returned to Hell. That was when he gave me a new task.

"It seems these aliens had come to Earth and they were a threat to the human race. My job was to help them and I have been. Or had been until recently. …Oh, and I've been killing people and police since I've been here." Kate stopped since she was mostly done and he was still just looking at her.

"I'll go now." She was sure he hated her now. Except the second she moved a little he stopped her and pulled her in even closer. "Rick? I'm evil and I'm a killer." He had good reason to hate her.

Rick suspected it was bad and the more he listened the more confirmation he got that it was bad. There was still one thing, though. "Why are you here…with me?" He knew why he wanted her close and why he wasn't sending her away.

"Rick." Answering his question wasn't going to change anything.

He pressed her for an answer. "Why, Kate?"

Kate found tears were starting. There was only one answer and she couldn't help herself for it. "Because I love you. I just wish I had met you before 1939." Her life would be so very different. It wouldn't have been so hard. Her life would have been different.

"Anything else?" Rick felt like there was something she was skirting around. Trying to avoid telling him.

"Rick, please?" She wasn't even really human anymore. Except he just kept looking at her. "Lucifer changed me. I'm not human any longer. He called me a Dark Phoenix." There she had told him. "You hate me." He couldn't do anything else.

"On the contrary, I love you. All of you. I'm interested in seeing this Dark Phoenix part of you, but I'm not scared," Rick said instead of telling her to get out.

Kate's fear went to something she had never felt before. It actually had her heart pounding. "You love me?" No one had ever told her that she was loved. Not like he just had. She even saw it in his eyes. Now her tears were back. He loved her. It shouldn't be possible.

He bowed his head for a moment. "I have my own confession, though."

"You really are married and have kids." She should have known it was too good to be true. Nothing good ever happened to her.

"I have my own story." What he didn't know was if she was going to like it or not. He was betting she wouldn't. Still he needed to tell her since she had told him her story.

"It's 1939. I'm in New York City and I'm employed by the FBI. My job was to infiltrate a human trafficking ring that was working in the city. They were capturing and selling young white women to foreign buyers. My job was to infiltrate the group, identify who the leaders were, and put an end to it." Rick paused and saw concern in her eyes but she didn't stop him.

"It took me a year and a half to get in close. They had already shipped out I don't know how many young women as sex slaves. I was finally included in the processing of one group. Not everything went all that well. Three of the woman weren't white so they were singled out and not sold.

"Those three were going to be raped by the workers. I stabbed one of them and then killed the other. But I took a knife in the back. Then I chased down the container that was filled with women who had been sold. I found it and reported it. Then I bled out and died." Rick paused again and saw the look on her face. She looked hurt, concerned, and interested all at the same time so he kept going.

"I found myself in what I took to be Heaven and then I met God. He gave me a task that I completed." Now Rick saw shock on her face.

Kate didn't know why she was so shocked that he had met God. After all she had met Lucifer so if he existed it stood to reason that God existed.

"After I completed that he gave me a new task. An alien race of statues had come to Earth. They had the power to send people back in time and would gain in power with each person they touched. Eventually the human race would be removed from the planet." Rick heard her suck in a breath.

Kate almost couldn't believe it. He was here for the same reason. She was just betting it wasn't to help the aliens.

"I've been putting handcuffs on their wrists and securing them to the concrete. Yeah, that was me. Except a few have been getting free since they're gone." Still puzzled by that he shook his head.

Kate scrunched up her face and gave him her best _please don't be angry _look. "That would be me. I've been melting them then escaping before they could touch me." She didn't know what would happen if they did touch her but she was betting it wouldn't be good.

"So God sent me to stop them and Lucifer sent you to help them." Rick was adapting to all of this a little better than she was.

"God sent you, so I suppose that makes you an Angel. Something I definitely am not." She wasn't even close. She hadn't even blinked about killing all those people.

Rick reached out and placed a hand on her bare breast. Kate's first thought was that he was initiating another round of sex which she was still more than happy to do. Even if he was an Angel.

"But you are, Kate. In here, deep in here, you still are. Your early life sent you to where you are now. That was all God's work. He has a plan for everyone, even you." Rick was sure of it.

"If he has a plan I can tell you that I don't like it." Her early life had been hell. It was why she had no trouble ending up in Hell.

Rick only had one question. "Do you still love me? I still love you." She worked for Lucifer and he still loved her.

That had Kate searching his eyes. She could see that he was telling the truth. He did still love her.

"Yes, but I don't know why. But yes." Kate felt the tears that had stopped beginning to come back. He was the only man who could make her cry and it wasn't because he had caused her pain. "Now what do we do?"

She didn't want to lose him. She loved him. It was just that they were working from opposite ends. His job was to save humanity and hers was to help put an end to it.

Kate had her answer a moment later when she felt his finger stroke the lips of her core. She sucked in a breath. "We can discuss it over breakfast. _After _you get me hard and I fuck your brains out." Rick saw her face brighten and her smile widen as she kissed him.

\O/ + |X| + \O/ + |X| + \O/+ |X|+ \O/+ |X| + \O/

Kate was standing in a kitchen that looked like no other kitchen she had ever been in. Actually the entire house looked like one she had never been in. Given that Janelle might come home unexpectedly, they were both dressed.

"Rick, what are we going to do?" She had a guy and she wanted to keep him. She was actually starting to dream of a future that she didn't get to have. It was just that they were effectively fighting each other. He was good and she was evil.

He then made a request. "No sausage for me, please, but you can cook the entire package of bacon. …Please, my love."

Hearing that had Kate turning to look at him. She had called him _baby_ but being called _his love_ was a first for her. It only reinforced her desire to keep him. "Lucifer is going to kill me and throw me into Hell for this." She didn't see where she had much of a future.

"God forgives everyone and He has a plan," Rick countered serenely.

Kate snorted out a huff of a laugh. She was owned by Lucifer. God didn't have anything to do with this mess.

"Never discount the power of God. We just need to come up with a plan and pray that it will work." Rick was already starting to formulate a plan and it was a wild one.

"I don't have your faith, baby. My life hasn't generated any faith for my life to be any good." Kate flipped his bacon and kept on cooking.

"Then it's a good thing I have enough faith for both of us! I've got an idea but you're not going to like it." Rick was ready to run it past her. Maybe together they could smooth it out and make it work.

"If it means we get to stay together I'm listening. …Bacon." She put his plate full of bacon on the counter. She settled for a couple of his pieces and some toast.

"Okay, hear me out before you shoot me. You lived during WWII same as I did, meaning you were born in the 1920s like I was. We both managed to survive the Depression."

"That the United States created and took the rest of the world with them." To Kate, Hitler would never have been created if Germany hadn't fallen into the same Depression that the States started.

Rick glared at her. "Our aliens will touch you and send you back to a time. To a time where you will die before you were actually born; that way they grow in power based on your life time that is lost. Or not really lost, just changed."

"Don't blink." Kate got that part but what did that have to do with them being together?

"Don't blink," Rick agreed. "Say the average lifespan is ninety years so if they touched us we would be sent… roughly a hundred years before we were actually born. Ignoring that the year is presently 2012."

Kate stopped eating her toast in mid bite. He wasn't serious!? Was he? "Let them touch us?"

"We'll get sent back into time. Somewhere around 1820 or so I'm guessing. Both of our jobs here are done since the aliens will be in our future. You will have sacrificed your future and God forgives everyone, even you. Your sacrifice means Lucifer can't do anything to you and we live our lives." It needed some more detailed planning, but that was the gist of it.

Kate stared at him like he was crazy. "Live in 1820. No electricity, no refrigeration, no cars, no nothing. They touch us and poof we're gone. You've lost your mind!" His plan sucked.

"Well it will be 1820 so we won't have any of those. However, I'm hoping that what touches us goes with us. Our clothes and anything that touches us," Rick posited. Granted he didn't know but it kind of made sense.

"Hope?" Kate laughed bitterly. "Hope is for losers. This plan sucks."

He spelled out his plan hoping to convince her. "If we tape gold coins to our body they should go with us. We'll be rich based on how many coins we can tape to our bodies. Gold coins is just one thing. We can tape drugs, wear clothes like big heavy coats and boots, gloves or mittens, hats, sunglasses, anything we can think of."

Kate thought about it. "Rich in 1820." She kept thinking about it. "Okay, but where will we end up?" She meant where not when.

Rick shrugged a shoulder. "Since we're in New York City I'm guessing we won't move except for the difference in time. Though we need to find a statue and allow it to touch us."

"1820 New York City with gold strapped to our bodies. Can we do a lot of research first?" If they did this she wanted to plan what was going to get strapped to her body.

"So you're willing to do this?" Had he just heard a yes from her? He grinned widely at her.

"You said you loved me." She would help with this stupid plan if it meant she could keep him.

"I do." Rick stepped around, wrapped his arms around her, felt hers go around him, and then kissed her. He divided up who got what. "I'll get the gold and the material to wrap it to our bodies. You worry about what you personally want."

"You think this is going to work?" It sounded too weird and wild to work. Plus they needed a lot of luck, something she had precious little of.

"Even if all the stuff stays behind, I've got you. My little angel." Rick smiled lovingly at her.

"More Dark Phoenix than angel. …Do I bring my stuff here?" Where did they gather up all this stuff?

"Here will work. We have a limited time frame, though. Janelle's going on a vacation in a month then moving so we have that long to get what we want."

Kate sighed as she leaned into him and let him hold her. She was going to need a list of things she couldn't live without. Things that would still work in 1820. "This is nuts, baby, but I'm in. I'll start my list when I get home." She stayed right where she was for the moment.

Rick cleared his throat then said, "By the way, I was at your place. What happened? It was filled with police."

"Don't ask, you'll hate me and not want to do this. …Please, baby!" She was evil and had done evil things.

"You can tell me everything after we go back in time. Keeping too many secrets isn't a good idea. A few are okay, but that sounds like a big one. Promise?" She needed to promise or they might be over already.

Kate had to think about that. If she waited until they were both in 1820 and he decided to leave her it wouldn't be anything new. She had been alone most of her life. She would simply be alone in 1820 New York City. She was going to need to get her own gold just to be safe.

"Fine, I promise." Kate didn't let go of him. Next was to start a list and then bring it all here.

"Do you have money?" If she didn't he could give her some.

"I have enough." She had two new credit cards that she hadn't even barely touched. "I need your address. This place and time has something called an Internet. I could buy it that way and have it shipped to here."

"Good thinking!" He liked that idea a lot and it earned her yet another kiss.

They both just held each other and allowed themselves to enjoy the idea of having a possible future together.


	15. Chapter 15

**It's About Time **

_Chapter 15_

_It is now two weeks later_

Rick had a list as did Kate. She was over at his place every day and spent the night with him. Much to his delight he was finding that she was insatiable. They had sex each and every day and even when they weren't having sex she had the need to touch him. To hold him and keep him close.

They also had a whole lot of stuff and they still had a number of items on each of their lists. Their lists never seemed to get smaller as each of them kept adding items to them.

At the moment they were sitting in the real living room next to each other and holding each other. They were both looking over their respective lists when the front door bell sounded.

Rick got up to find out what it was, leaving Kate behind. "Another delivery." Rick handed over the box since it had her name on it even if it did have his address. That was, after all, the deal they'd made.

Kate went to the kitchen to get a knife so she could cut it open. "More gold coins!" She was happy for that. To her way of thinking they couldn't have too much gold.

Rick knew they already had a lot of both antique gold coins and gold coin blanks. He had bought his fair share's worth. "We're both going to weigh a ton if you keep this up," he warned only to have her stick her tongue out at him which made him chuckle.

"If I'm going to live in 1820 I'm going to be rich, thank you very much." He may be a pain from time to time, but she was finding it easier and easier to love him and to tell him that she loved him.

Neither of them had cared about where the concrete aliens were at the moment. They spent all of their time together. So much so that all of Kate's clothes, what she had bought for herself, were now in his bedroom. She hadn't even thought about the family she'd killed. Not the first one or the second or that the second one didn't have to die if she had moved in earlier. What was in the past was in the past. Plus so long as she stayed here she didn't have a reason or cause to kill anyone else.

Kate left her gold behind and would take it down to their bedroom later. "Is that my list?" Was he spying? She was the spy in this family.

"Here's mine if it makes you feel better." Rick handed her his list after she sat down next to him.

_**Kate's List**_

_GOLD! Gold, gold__, __and more gold._

_Tampons and pads, more tampons. Lots and lots of tampons_

_Makeup_

_Condoms_

_Coat_

_Gloves_

_Boots_

_Weapon and ammunition_

_Bras_

_Boomerang(s)_

_Compound bow and arrows and instructions on how to make your own arrows. Extra bow string(s)_

_**Rick's List**_

_Gold coins_

_Penicillin and how to make your own penicillin_

_Live marijuana plant(s) and hops plant(s)_

_Tools: pliers, hammer, screwdrivers, level, nails, screws_

_Flashlight that works by cranking it__; extra light bulb(s)_

_Anti-__d__iarrhea medicine_

_Aspirin_

_Backpack type sleeping bag_

_Heavy winter coat_

_Heavy winter gloves_

_Paper, pens, pencils_

_Solar powered calculator_

_Matches__,__ propane lighter__, __or Bic lighter_

_Heavy winter boots and lots of socks_

_Tubes of sealant (the small ones) outside type only_

_Antibiotic cream(s)_

_Hand sanitizer_

_Antihistamines_

_Bowie knife_

_Compass_

_Signal flare(s)_

_Light stick(s)_

Kate hadn't gotten all that far when she stopped to question him. "Marijuana and Hops?"

"We need a way to make money. Marijuana's illegal now but it wasn't then and if you listen to some people it actually has a medical use. The hops are to make beer with. I've made beer in the bathtub before. Besides a house I was thinking we could have a barn along with horses, a plow, fertilizer, and other stuff. Then plant a field of marijuana on one side and hops for beer on the other." He was thinking of being part farmer. "We can hire workers."

They were going to have lots and lots of gold so why did they have to do anything? Though she had always worked and didn't know if she could just sit around and do nothing all day. "Drugs and beer. Okay." Kate went back to reading his list.

"Where are you going to put all this stuff, baby?" His list was kind of big.

"Well, the gold gets strapped to my legs. Some of it you're going to strap to my back. Some is going to be strapped to my chest. I'll wear some of it and carry the sleeping bag in my hand. The little stuff gets strapped to my arms.

"Even if I have to walk like this I don't care so long as it all goes." Rick stood up and walked stiff like he had something stuck up his ass. Kate lost it and hooted at him in gales of laughter. "Keep laughing, love, with all those gold coins and tampons you're going to be walking the same way." Rick grinned at her.

Rick sat back down next to her and went back to her list. "Um, love, the weapon I understand, but just how do you plan to make more shells when you use up the ammunition you take? You're going to need a gun cleaning kit, too."

Kate growled at him and tried to think about that some more. The press to make the rounds wasn't all that big. But today's black powder was very modern and black powder in 1820 was a lot more dirty. "FINE! Take it off the list." He had a point and it pissed her off.

"If you want a reusable weapon try a blowgun or a boomerang or two, or three. Or carry one of those compound bows and instructions on how to make your own arrows," Rick suggested instead.

"OH! Thanks, baby!" Kate leaned in and kissed him then took her list back to add to it.

Janelle was leaving in two weeks and Rick was thinking that they might be ready while she was gone. It meant he was going to need to say goodbye before she left. Problem with that was he might never know if she actually sold this house and moved.

\O/ + |X| + \O/ + |X| + \O/+ |X|+ \O/+ |X| + \O/

Kate was naked and enjoying being in bed with Rick the morning that Janelle was going to be going to the airport for her trip. It meant they would have the entire house to themselves and she seemed fine with that.

"Is there anything still on your list, babe?" Kate queried since she knew he was awake.

"Just need to go shopping to get all of the tape or bindings we'll need for my list. It's going to take a lot. The two of us are going to look like mummies." He chuckled lightly at the thought of what they were going to look like. "I've even got my two changes of clothing all picked out. Both pants are blue jeans." He had everything on his list.

"How about your list?" Was Kate ready?

"I've got one last order of gold coins coming. I have everything else I can think of that will fit or I can hold in my hand." Her compound bow was going to go in one hand and one of her boomerangs that she hadn't yet learned how to throw was going in the other. Her list had grown and almost matched Rick's.

"We're going to need a fork lift to get you there," Rick teased which earned him a swat to his chest.

"I told you if I'm going, I'm going to go rich." She was going to find a way to take all of them even if she had to stuff them inside her bra. "What about when we get there?" Had he planned for that yet?

"I don't really know much about 1820 New York City. We may just have to play it by ear. I have however thought that we shouldn't stay there. Far too dangerous. Problem is I'm not overly sure just exactly where to go. I'm still doing some research on that." He had half an idea and it might rely on Kate.

"We may be buying a whole lot of things with all our gold. If we're going to have a farm we need to move," Rick warned.

"Fine by me." She had what she wanted provided that this worked. They both needed to end up in the same place. That was the one part that they had no control over.

\O/ + |X| + \O/ + |X| + \O/+ |X|+ \O/+ |X| + \O/

Rick and even Kate were up and watching Janelle coming out of her bedroom for the trip to the airport and the start of her vacation.

"Your taxi's already here," Rick said so that she didn't delay too long.

"You didn't have to do this, Rick. You shouldn't have spent the money." She knew she hadn't paid for it and Rick had refused to let her pay him back.

"Yes, I did. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't? Just remember your interview and your tour with the real estate agent while you're there. And have fun!" Rick hugged her. "We'll make sure this place is safe while you're gone. We may even start packing for you." Rick grinned wide which had her shaking her head.

"I'm glad that you found someone," Janelle said and then leaned in close. "And she's pretty."

Rick took her bag and carried it down to the taxi; both of them waved as she left.

"Are we going to be here when she gets back?" Her gold delivery had showed up late yesterday. They both now had everything that was on their list which just kept getting bigger and bigger.

"No. I'm thinking we are going to start wrapping ourselves up tomorrow and then help each other. I have faith that she will take the job and move. We're done here." It was time to start their new lives.

Kate was both worried and excited. She was just a moment away from getting a life that she was sure was lost to her. Plus she had someone to share it with. It was enough that it had her wrapping her arms around him. "Have I told you that I love you?"

Rick actually thought about it for a moment. "Not today." He grinned at her and before she could hit him for his crack he kissed her. "Shall we go out tonight and celebrate? Our last night in modern day New York City."

Kate smiled. "I accept. Can we go to that German place we went to that one time?" She wanted to feel German again before they left.

"Works for me. Maybe that sausage platter this time." Rick kissed her again.

\O/ + |X| + \O/ + |X| + \O/+ |X|+ \O/+ |X| + \O/

It was taking an amazingly long time just to tape the gold coins to his legs. They had both learned the hard way to do it in stages. Tape one section closed before starting on another one being very careful to make sure each and every coin was touching skin.

They didn't know they needed to do this for a fact, but it was simply prudent to not risk it.

Rick was done first and stood up and started to walk. "It feels like my legs are encased in lead." It was the weight. "When you're done can you do my back?" He would do his chest after that followed by his arms. Then he would put on all of his clothes.

It was a good thing that it was now winter in New York. It gave them a reason to wear all of their winter gear.

"Sure, just give me a few more minutes." It wasn't any easier for her.

Kate was done and started strapping any number of items to his back by wrapping the wraps all the way around his upper body. When she was done it still left behind a number of items.

"Do me now. Right after I put on both of my bras," Kate said then asked for his help to do put her bras on. She wanted him to use different hooks for each. The one would be tight while the other would be as loose as possible.

Rick got to work strapping her items to her back. "Done." Like Rick she still had a number of items to go yet.

Rick started on his chest but soon found that he needed her help again.

It took a lot of time and their arms were all that they had left to wrap.

"Here, stuff the instructions on how to make our own penicillin down your bra." Rick handed her a sheet of paper and watched as she carefully folded it and slipped it into place.

Next came pants that they also had to help the other with since they could barely bend over. That was followed by having to help each other with their leather boots since the socks were already on.

Each started working on wrapping up each arm with what was left. This was when they learned that their arms were really going to have to be packed since they'd badly underestimated.

This was followed by trying to get two shirts on that didn't get buttoned because they couldn't. They were both too big now.

Next came winter coats followed by gloves and scarves and finally a winter hat that covered their ears.

"You look stupid." Rick looked incredibly fat and all she could see of him was his face.

"Look who's talking, fatso," he snipped back at her which had her sticking her tongue out at him.

"Um, babe. If we have to turn our backs on them so we don't see them what part of us are they going to touch?" They were all wrapped up completely. The only exposed skin was their faces.

"Good point." Rick hadn't thought about that. He took his scarf off and used it to tie the flaps of his hat off his ears and onto his head. "Better?" Now the back of his neck and his ears were exposed. Kate duplicated what he'd done.

Rick picked up his compound bow and his sleeping bag. "Ready to go?" There was no turning back now.

Kate did the same. And she added a quiver that was filled with modern aluminum arrows. Even if the arrows didn't go with her she would at least have a modern quiver.

"OH, one last thing. Wait here." Rick moved to pick up something and hid it from Kate. He took off a glove, slipped the diamond ring on his pinky finger, then put the glove back on.

"Okay, ready." He waddled over to his phone and had to take his glove off to make the call to summon a taxi to take them to a park. He even put the cell phone in a pocket, just in case.

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Just getting into and then out of the taxi was yet another adventure. They were both so wrapped up tight that they could barely move.

Then Rick had to take a glove off and fish out some cash to pay the taxi driver before putting his glove back on. "That way?" He had found three of them in this park before and they only needed one.

"Sure." Neither one of them knew just where any of them were.

Both of them waddled down the deserted sidewalk. "We better not get mugged," Rick laughed. That was all they needed at this point.

"I'll kill them if they try," Kate growled. No one was going to screw this up for her and get away with it. When she turned to look at Rick she saw the face he was making. "Well, I will. No one is screwing this up for me. Not now." She wasn't backing down.

Rick didn't say anything and was only slightly worried that she would do just that if anyone tried. It was something they were going to have to work on. She might love him but she was still basically evil and only too willing to do evil things.

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They finally saw a statue that was covering its eyes.

"Do you miss your kittens?" Kate questioned since he'd had to give them away to a good home. The alien couldn't touch all of them at the same time and the kittens might not go with them for the same reason as all the other stuff.

"Huey, Dewey, and Louie were good. Yeah, I'm going to miss them. They have a good home, though." Then Rick spotted a problem. "It has handcuffs on it."

Kate knew she could burn them off. It was just that she was encased in everything they planned on taking with them. She couldn't just switch and burn them away. She went right up to it to look closer.

"The chain's burned away, babe." Rick had cuffed it but this was one of the ones she'd freed. Then she looked down at its shackles. They were still attached but they weren't attached to the concrete so it was free to move. "So are the shackles." She looked back up and stared at it. This thing was going to give her a new life. She was here to help it destroy humanity and there she was wanting it to send her away with the man she loved more than her own life.

"Turn around, Kate." She turned her head to look at him. Together they turned their backs on it. Then Rick reached out a gloved hand to take hers.

"This better work, babe." If this didn't work out she was going to scream and something or someone was going to pay for it.

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Kate had kept her eyes open and she was staring out into the park away from the alien statue.

"How long is this going to take?" She was getting tired and her fingers were starting to cramp while trying to hold onto something and still hold one of Rick's fingers.

"As long as it takes. It has to know that no one can see it. How it knows that when it has its eyes covered is the part I don't understand." How was it to know if it wasn't being observed if it didn't actually see anyone or any living thing. "Do insects count as a living thing?" If it did they had trouble.

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"This is tiring, babe." Kate let go of Rick and flexed her aching fingers. She didn't dare set anything down since they could end up being touched at any moment and there wasn't anything on them that they didn't need or want to take with them.

She had just finished reaching out to link a finger again and felt him when suddenly the park disappeared. "Babe!" What Kate saw was no longer the park.

While the park itself was gone, it had been replaced with a number of really old buildings. Not that the buildings themselves were all that old. It was just that they weren't all that modern-looking.

Since she could still feel his finger she turned to look at him and smiled widely. They had been touched and were now in New York City in the nineteenth century.

"It actually worked." Rick was a little amazed and yet happy.

"Now what, baby?" This had been his idea.

"We need a bank, a place to live, and then we'll start searching this New York City," Rick told her.

"Bank?" Why would they need a bank? They had gold taped to their bodies. Kate could still feel all of it. Even her hands were still full.

"Back in this time banks gave out 7% interest for your deposits. So a year from now at 7% we'll have even more money. You wanted to be rich. This will help us to be rich. Besides we could use that year to figure out just what we want to do. In addition they'll give us a decent exchange for the weight of our gold. Though we should probably keep some of it," Rick said patiently.

"And any interest you can also obtain upon landed security of the best possible description without any deduction for those accursed things called Stamps, and without any of the delays of the law," Rick explained.

"Okay, so a bank is first. After the sun comes up." It was dark out. It may be a different year, but it was still cold outside since she could see her breath and the sun had not yet risen.


	16. Chapter 16

**It's About Time**

_Chapter 16_

They'd barely taken a single step when suddenly someone was in their way. Rick had never seen him before, however he could feel the evil flowing out of him and washing over everything. He was average looking, bald, and clad all in white. A really nice and expensive-looking white suit.

The next thing Rick noticed was that everything seemed to have stopped. The clouds were not moving. The wind wasn't blowing and there was no sound. He couldn't even smell anything.

Kate, though, recognized him instantly. "Lucifer." The fear of what he was going to do to her for this was now front and center. It had her frozen in place.

"You disappoint me. I give you one little task, the power to do it, and this is how you repay me." He simply motioned with his hand and Kate found herself lying on her back on the ground. All of the air was forced out of her lungs and she found it hard to breathe.

Rick wanted to take a step and defend her but he realized that his feet wouldn't move. He looked down and tried to move his foot. To his great consternation it didn't move even a fraction of an inch.

"You're with me." Lucifer reached down, grabbed one of Kate's ankles, and began to drag her.

Rick found that his voice still worked. "**Leave her alone**!"

"Well, lookie what we have here. An Angel. Did she turn you with her woman's ways? Pussy-whip an Angel? Who would have guessed." He actually stopped dragging Kate.

"You can't touch her. She sacrificed her future to be with me. She is yours no longer." Rick fought back in the only way left to him.

Lucifer's laugh almost burned his soul just hearing it. "She's mine even if you _are_ addicted to her." Lucifer went back to dragging Kate on the ground. Only after just two steps he became aware that it had become harder and harder to drag her. She was actually starting to dig into the ground. He found that he couldn't take even one more step dragging her.

"Sacrifice." It made him to think about that. "You sacrificed your future by allowing an alien to touch you." His eyes glowed as he stared at her, thinking about her and what she'd done. "FINE!" He dropped her legs and let her lay there.

He couldn't keep her or have her back. "You can't keep what I gave you." He leaned down and wrapped his hands around Kate's neck. What Rick heard was Kate screaming bloody murder from the pain. What he saw was fire leaving her body. It seemed to come out of her neck and into his body.

Kate had told him about being Dark Phoenix even if she hadn't actually shown him.

It took almost a minute and Kate screamed from the pain the entire time. When it was over she was left laying there, whimpering from the pain.

"Know this, Angel. One day you two are going to die and when you do you might not be mine, but she is and what I will do to her will have her screaming from the pain until time itself stops." Lucifer smiled wickedly. He may not win this time, but he would eventually win out.

"And think about this. That alien has gained the power of the lives of the two of you that you would have lived. The human race, God's chosen children, are now doomed thanks to you two. Think about that." With that Lucifer vanished, leaving Kate whimpering from the pain on the ground.

It became apparent to Rick that he could finally move when his fingers began to twitch. He rushed to her side and lifted her up a little so he could hold her tight and tell her that he loved her.

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It was two hours later and they were in a private room inside a New York bank. They'd gotten a few of their gold coins off their legs and argued to get all they could for them along with some cold hard cash for them to use. The gold was now making them 7% interest and they had what for the day was a lot of money.

Rick's research told them where they needed to go next: Bowery Village. It was there that it became a suburb of the City. Because of this farmers and others could sell their things and not pay a tax. This made what they sold less expensive than what was sold in the City.

There were also a number of comfortable residences along the upper Bowery. The first one they found that was for sale was brand new red brick building with two dormers on the third floor. There were three windows on the front on the first and second floors.

There were a number of them on First and Second Avenues and Eleventh Street. It was the cheapest and was mostly empty because right next door there was the area's first cemetery.

Now came the next problem. It was empty. In the 1820s housing didn't come with all that much. The kitchen had cabinets and a sink. The bathrooms had fixtures and the floors were wood. There was a Rumford fireplace in the kitchen on the main floor and another in the master bedroom on the second floor. Both were wood burning and naturally there was no cut fire wood. It meant they literally needed everything else. Furniture, bedding, towels, kitchen utensils, pots and pans, and even food to cook. At least it had locks on the door.

They both stripped up on the third floor and took everything off of their bodies. While it was cold and they didn't have any wood for the fireplace, Rick did have a few tools and went to work on a section of the floor on the third floor.

Once open, he stuffed everything they had into the joist space and closed it up again save for the larger items: compound bows, sleeping bags, and their two person dome tent that had a large air mattress wrapped up inside of it.

"What's first, babe?" Kate was willing to let Rick lead since he had done all the research.

"A bed and bedding if we can find a place that can deliver since we don't have a wagon to put it all into. After that we need horses so we can get around and we'll need to find a place to stable them and care for them. Of course kitchen stuff and furniture." He tried to think ahead. "Then we need information and eventually jobs. We should be spending our gold on our future not living off of it."

"Isn't New York City where all the immigrants come to? We might find out something there. Once we find a group we can start planning. Unless you want your farm to be local?" Did they leave the area? Did they have to?

"Too expensive to live here even at this time. We might be rich based on today's standards but if we want to stay that way we can't go spending it all in this city." Rick was shaking his head. "How do you feel?" He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her body close to his.

Kate thought about lying but didn't. "It still hurts. My neck mostly." She slipped her arms around his waist. She wasn't sorry she'd come with him. She had thought she might lose being Dark Phoenix, but not how she lost it.

"When we come back late today we can take out some aspirin and some cream for your neck. Then you can rest on the bed if we can get it delivered today." Rick kissed her forehead.

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Kate got down off her horse and tied him to the ring at the street out in front of their home. He had a water trough and there was always a little hay next to it. Next she got to work taking the saddle off of him and then hefted it up into her arms. She went inside and dropped it.

Next she went into the kitchen, picked up an apple, and went back outside. "Here, Patches," she crooned. "You're such a good boy." She held it in the palm of her hand and let him bite it out of her hand and get to work on making it disappear. He also had a huge sweet tooth and dearly loved sugar, but they had decided that that wasn't good for him. Luckily he also had a love of other foods.

Kate petted him, ran her hand down his neck, and lifted the blanket off of him but left his bit and bridle in place since she might need him again soon.

She thought he was handsome. Patches was an Appaloosa and his head and neck were brown. His body was a lighter brown with black spots. His hindquarters were white with black spots while his legs were a brown that matched his head and neck.

He was already done with his apple and was starting work on the hay by the time Kate was back inside.

Rick's saddle and blanket were missing which told her that he was still at work. She really needed for him to come home since she had news for him and she wanted to celebrate by dining out.

They had some furniture in the living room. They had no dining room table. They had only the basics for the kitchen and they only had the one bed. As big as the place was it was mostly empty. They didn't even have any pictures or paintings hanging on the walls. They lived in it but it didn't really look lived-in.

Kate settled in the living room and waited for Rick to come home. To keep herself occupied she picked up yesterday's _Bowery Republican._ It was a local paper that held news items, things for sale, and other stories.

She suddenly sat up straight just as the front door opened and Rick came in, dropping his saddle next to hers. "BABE, come look." She'd found something. She was going to investigate tomorrow since she didn't work the next day.

Rick stepped up next to her and leaned down to kiss her cheek. Kate smelled him before he even reached her. He smelled of beer day in and day out. It wasn't because he had become a drunk. He had gotten a job in a brewery so he could learn what he didn't already know for later.

"What am I looking at?" Rick kept his head next to hers and looked at the paper.

Kate pointed and let him read. "What do you think? I was thinking of going to look for them tomorrow since I'm off work tomorrow." She turned her head to look up at him.

"A large group of German immigrants. If I remember correctly the Irish and English mostly stayed in the city. You think this group wants out of the city?" Rick inquired.

"I won't know unless I ask." She did speak fluent German so language wasn't going to be a barrier.

"You know where we've decided we want to move to. Find out if they agree if they don't already have a plan. We can go shopping to get ready if they're the right group," Rick offered.

That suddenly made Kate a little sad. "I have news." She was kind of looking forward to it. Though moving on with their lives topped her list. "I was approached today for a different singing gig. Bigger place, bigger audiences, and more pay." She had been so happy at the time.

"THAT'S GREAT! Congratulations! We need to celebrate. Where are you thinking of going?" They didn't have anything really close. The cost of the place was because of its location. There was a church, post office, brothels, produce stands, and even a scale for hay merchants. There were a few pubs but they were mostly there for beer, not food. Certainly not food worth celebrating with.

"Into the City, maybe? That's another thing about this offer. It's in the City meaning it's even farther away from here." She was already traveling for just over thirty minutes one way. This might add another fifteen minutes to her commute.

Rick bent down to kiss her head. "Go talk to your Germans first or have you already said yes?" He knew it was big for her and they could use all the money they could get.

"I told him I had to talk to you first. In this century men are in charge." She hated it but that was the way things were. Besides Rick didn't treat her like she was his slave. Even if she wasn't married.

"Then take me to it and we can find a place to celebrate after we get there. Let me get cleaned up so I don't reek of beer then I'll change and we can go." Rick kissed her head again and headed for the stairs.

1820 New York City had indoor plumbing even though all the waste went untreated straight out into the closest water. Meaning rivers typically. It also meant anything close to the river stank from the vast amounts of human waste that was being dumped into them.

"Better?" Rick held his arms out to his side and spun in place to show off what he'd changed in to. That was one of the other things they had spent a little money on. More clothes. Most were work clothes though Kate now had a decent selection of dresses because of her work.

"You're as handsome as ever." Kate stepped up to him, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. "We should go or we're going back upstairs." Just smelling a fresh Rick went straight to her core and caused her to get wet.

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Kate saddled her horse while Rick saddled his. Like Kate's, his horse was also an Appaloosa. They had gotten both of them from the same place. His was also a male, however, his was all white with brown spots all over. Even his head was white with brown spots. His name was Samson mostly because his mane was larger and longer than most.

Rick liked it when he saw it. It still wasn't a theater that held hundreds, yet where she was singing now was tiny. This place was definitely bigger.

Next came finding a place to eat.

They ordered drinks first and told their waiter to come back. Rick had been working up the courage for weeks now. Yes, they'd been in the city for almost six months but he needed to be really sure.

"Kate, my love." Rick took the ring out of his pocket. He had gotten rid of the box before they even got there. He had put it on his pinky finger and made sure that she never saw it. He placed it on the table in front of her.

Kate raised trembling hands to her mouth and felt tears starting. Her heartbeat quickly skyrocketed.

"You're still the angel I saw all those months ago. I'm still really thankful that you agreed to all this. You didn't have to do any of this. We now have a future together and I want it to last forever. So, Katherine Houghton Beckett, if you would, please do me the very great honor of being my wife and make me a very happy man." Rick leaned in a little closer. "And ex-Angel."

That was one of the things Rick had learned after Lucifer had tried to take her from him. God had stripped him of his wings and his powers. God simply hadn't done it like Lucifer had.

Kate couldn't find her voice. All she could do was sit there staring at the ring and cry. He was asking her to marry him. She was actually going to be someone's wife and that someone was going to be Rick.

She finally took her eyes off the ring and gazed at him. She loved him and that was why she was here. All she had to do was say yes. It was just that that word was trapped in her throat. Along with any noise at all. She began nodding her head as hard as she could.

Then she watched him pick up the ring; she held out her left hand and watched as he slid it onto her finger. Finally a sob escaped her lips just as it reached its resting place.

At last she was able to move. She got up out of her chair so she could wrap her arms around him and kiss him soundly. "I love you so very much." She finally found her voice. This was the life that she thought she wasn't going to get to have. She was getting a second chance.

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Kate had dinner ready and yet Rick wasn't home yet and he was late, like really late. Plus she had news that she really wanted to tell him so where was he?

Finally she heard the front door open and moved to intercept him only she came up short and put her hands over her mouth and started laughing her ass off. He was a mess and still wet.

He just stood there, dripping a little. She could smell the beer even from where she was standing. "What happened to you?" Kate put her hands back over her mouth to hide the huge grin that was on her face.

"We had a leak and I drew the short straw." Technically he was low man on the totem pole so he was volunteered to clean up after they handled the leak. Rick spread his arms wide and began walking toward her. "How about a kiss." He was smiling wide.

"No way! …Don't you dare!" Kate started backing up as Rick kept walking to her. "RICK!" He was almost on her now. "I'll hurt you!"

She didn't when he wrapped his arms around her. Her arms were pinned between them and she was disgusted by the feeling of suddenly being wet with the stink of beer. She also let him kiss her and even kissed him back.

"You love me," Rick stated and smiled at her.

"I'm starting to reconsider. Now go strip and get clean. Dinner's ready so don't take too long." Kate pushed and he took a step back.

"Does Sampson smell like you do?" She was betting he did. Poor horse. "Take him to the stable after dinner and get him clean. And Patches better not start smelling like you two," Kate yelled at his retreating back.

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They ate all their meals while sitting in the living room since they didn't have a table and chairs.

Kate started telling him her news. "I finally found those German immigrants that were in the paper. There are seventy-three of them. They banded together on the trip over and decided to get together."

"And?" He was really interested in being part of a group and not going it alone.

"They've been here for a couple months and they want out of the City. That was when I told them of your plan. I told them about all the old growth trees. That it was next to a large stream that's almost a river.

"They've already started buying supplies and other things and getting ready to leave so we're a little behind them. They were thinking of leaving in a month. It will be late summer by then." It might not be the perfect time to start building and planting, though.

"About four months before the first snow." Rick wasn't sure about the timing. "One month, huh?" They were going to need to work fast.

"We have a lot to buy; we'll need to close our bank account, pack everything away, and meet them somewhere." He shook his head. "I'm going to need help." He couldn't do it all alone. It meant she had to leave her job. And they also needed to sell their home.

Kate sighed. She liked her job and was thinking about accepting her option of going bigger. "Okay. No more singing. And you know we're going to freeze when it gets really cold." They wouldn't have a house by then.

"Our tent is arctic ready as are our sleeping bags. So are our coats, gloves, hats, and boots. We'll be cold but we won't freeze," Rick reminded her.

"You better like chopping firewood." She wasn't freezing to death.

Rick thought about it and could already feel his arms and back paining him. "We can start shopping tomorrow." He leaned across to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you to almost-husband." That was one more thing they needed to do before they left. She wanted to be married and sooner rather than later.


	17. Chapter 17

**It's About Time**

_Chapter 17_

It was a month later and they only had one more month before they left for West Virginia. Their home was for sale yet so far they'd had very little interest in the building. Kate was being a little greedy so they were trying to sell it for more than they had bought it for. Since they had another month that was fine with Rick. But that would need to change in a couple of weeks.

They also had a lot of things to buy. First up was what to get there in. They had purchased a brand new Conestoga wagon. "Why this one, babe?" Kate didn't understand. She'd seen wagons in western movies and this didn't look anything like them.

"This one can hold more, meaning it can handle more weight. Plus it's sealed so that it'll float if we have to cross a large stream or river. The horses will swim and the wagon will float. Down river, granted, so we need to be careful, but it shouldn't sink and take everything with it," Rick had explained.

The man they'd bought it from had told them that based on how much weight they put in it they would need four to six horses to pull it and they would need to ride two of them since the wagon didn't have a place to sit. It was basically a river barge with nowhere to sit.

"OH!" Now Kate got it. "And Patches and Samson?" What did they do with them? She really liked her horse. He was proving to have a unique personality. He had even learned to spot her when she came close. Maybe it was because of her or it was because of the apples she fed him. Either way he liked her.

"We either ride them or tie them so they'll walk behind the wagon. Simple." Rick didn't see any other way.

They also had six Morgan horses since they had plans on filling their wagon with goods and supplies. They were rich, after all. The very first thing to go into the wagon was a brand new wood burning stove that had recently come out. Only the truly rich had one in their homes. Most everyone else used open fireplaces to do most of their cooking. It also weighed a heck of a lot so getting it into the wagon had been a bit of a chore.

They left the wagon and the horses with their new German immigrant friends. Rick had learned what Kate already knew. The leader of the group was named Werner Klemperer. He was a little older than Rick and was a tall strapping fellow who they had learned was really strong. He was also a little forceful. He and the group were happy to have Rick and Kate join them. The fact that Kate spoke fluent German helped. And based on what they'd cobbled together thus far showed them that Rick and Kate were going to be the richest of all of their party. Likely richer than all of them combined.

In addition Rick had a plan and through Kate had described the place to them. Rick answered Werner's question about how he knew so much. "Research and I ask a lot of questions!" They had been here longer than this group had, after all.

At the moment Rick and Kate were carrying their latest purchases to load into their wagon. They both had all the blankets they could carry and loaded them into their wagon.

"What's next, babe?" They didn't have a computer though both of them did still have their cell phones, mostly by accident. They hadn't intended to but they had somehow been touching them. Granted they were mostly useless; the phones' batteries would die eventually and stay that way. But Rick did have a number of things in his phone's memory that so far had come in handy.

They already had a lot of things that they wouldn't need immediately or on the trail: a plow, shovels, a scythe, rakes, hoes, saws, a draw knife, broad axes, mallets, planes. Rick had even purchased rifles and pistols of the day. They were primitive in the extreme based on what he and Kate were used to but they might come in handy. They planned on relying on their compound bows for most of it. Their bows were going to be a shock to anyone that got in their way. Their range and power made them formidable weapons.

"Okay, question. We have six horses to pull the wagon and two riding horses. We need food but we might need milk in the future. So do we tie a pair of cows behind us as well?" Rick asked.

"What about pigs, the things are everywhere." That had been a rude awakening after reaching the City and living there. There were hundreds of pigs roaming the city. Though if they had thought about it it shouldn't have been too big of a surprise. Garbage collection was basically nonexistent, so it piled up all over the place. Since pigs ate anything and everything, including dead bodies, they ate the garbage.

"We need food anyway and bacon would be a good choice. So is that a yes to the cows? Or goats, maybe? We could make cheese from goat milk," Rick suggested since he wasn't sure just how much they could pull behind them safely.

"Fine, a pair of cows for milk and a pair of goats. Can we get those last? Like the day before we leave?" She didn't think the Germans would kill them and eat them. But you never knew and it paid to be careful.

"Okay by me. As for food we're going to have to start adding all that into the wagon." Rick had a list for that as well: 600 lbs. of flour, 120 lbs. of hardtack, 400 lbs. of bacon, 60 lbs. of coffee beans, 8 lbs. of tea, 100 lbs. of sugar, 200 lbs. of lard, 100 lbs. of beans, 400 lbs. of rice, 100 lbs. of dried peaches and dried apples and all the spices either of them could find at any cost.

Kate made a mental note to take all the perishable produce she could. Patches loved apples and she was going to make sure he got some somehow.

They would add seed for corn, wheat, and other crops since living off the land was what they would all be doing. Rick had even found more marijuana plants and even a few more hop plants.

Kate soon found that one way to preserve bacon was to pack it inside a barrel of bran. Also, eggs could be protected by packing them in barrels of corn meal – as the eggs were used up, the meal was used to make cornbread and corn muffins.

Milk could also be churned into butter by simply hanging it in cloth-covered pails beneath the bumpy wagon. By the end of the day fresh butter would be ready.

They had also learned from Werner and others in the German group that they were going to need to bring far more than just a pair of horses, milk cows, and goats. If they wanted to have fresh meat they were going to have to bring a large number of cows for butchering along the way.

They soon had sixteen cows for just that. All of them would hunt wild game for food along the way. It was just that counting on just that might lead to disaster.

In an attempt to balance out the load Rick put his brewing supplies toward the back since it weighed a bit. Though Kate's stove was the heaviest item they had.

Far in the back and far forward was most of their food along with food for all the animals including the two animals that Kate didn't understand why Rick had bought them. Though she had a suspicion.

"Kittens, babe?" He had three of them.

Rick grinned at her. "Meet Huey, Dewey, and Louie the second. The plan is to have a barn eventually. They can kill the mice that will try and make the barn a home."

"We're going to be miles long, babe." Kate tried to picture it. Seventy-three Germans with two per wagon meant thirty-six or more wagons not including their own. Add to that all the horses, cows, and whatever else was tied behind any number of them.

Rick began chuckling. If even half of them looked anything like what they were going to look like it was going to be sight, that was for sure.

"How long is this going to take us?" Kate asked. After all they were packing their wagon to almost full.

He scrunched up his face in a _please don't shoot me _look. "At ten to best case twenty miles per day and roughly six hundred miles means about nine weeks at ten miles per day." Rick saw the look she was giving him. "Could be worse," he said, shrugging. "We only want to go to West Virginia. If we wanted to go to California or Oregon it would take five to six months and that's leaving from Saint Louis. Of course that's if the Indians didn't get us or we didn't freeze to death in the mountains or we didn't lose our way and end up lost and dead. Or float down the river and crack up on the rocks."

"You sure we can't just fly?" It would be so much simpler and faster.

"Well for that we'd need to design a plane and build it. Design and build the spark plugs, figure out how to make the gasoline we would need. Find materials light enough to make it with. Then–"

Kate interrupted him. "Fine, fine I get it. Maybe we should have been sitting on motorcycles when it touched us." Anything but riding a horse for nine weeks straight.

Rick thought about it. "Might have worked, might have not. Did we even have anything that didn't touch us and come with us?" He suddenly knew the answer but it had Kate thinking.

"None of my aluminum arrows came. The quiver did but what was in it didn't." She'd been using the instructions stuffed down her bra and was busy making arrows for both of them when she wasn't singing or out buying food to cook so they didn't both starve.

"Okay, it wouldn't have worked," Kate grumbled.

"But you love me," Rick said as he embraced her and nuzzled her neck.

"Lucky for you, I do, or I would just shoot you. …Or stab you." Since her new pistol was primitive in the extreme she just might miss him. She did kiss him back when he kissed her, though.

"There's still one thing we have to do," Kate informed him and saw the puzzled look on his face. They had just about everything already. She gave him a hint by hold up her left hand.

"Get married! I forgot. I'm so sorry. I've been lost in what we need to survive to get there. I forgot all about that. We can look into that tomorrow. It may have to be simple. I don't know of any family in 1821." They were in the next year now.

"Yeah, my parents haven't even been born yet. Not sure what they would say if old me showed up and told them I was the daughter they hadn't yet had." Kate laughed since it was about all she could do. She might live long enough to find them before they left for Germany, but they wouldn't really be her parents. Still just seeing them even from a distance might be nice.

"I'm sorry, love. Your father doesn't get to walk you down the aisle. No big wedding, no something blue and all that." Probably not a whole lot of anything except someone to marry them.

"We could invite some of our new German friends," Kate said hopefully.

"We can ask. We can get married the day before we leave," Rick promised.

"I do," Kate replied with a wide smile since she was teasing.

"Hold that thought." Rick kissed her again.

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They had to unpack their wagon just a bit to add Rick's latest purchase. "What's this thing for?" Kate inquired as she began to help him remove the first barrel that happened to be full of bacon.

Rick started to explain. "There are no hot showers…"

"Don't remind me!" Kate rolled her eyes. Her one saving grace was that with a little work she could at least take a hot bath. She had to heat up the water and dump it into the tub little by agonizingly slow bit.

"Well, if we put this on top of some bricks, fill it with water, and build a fire under it you can have your hot bath. Provided you're willing to share." Rick missed hot showers, too. That and electricity, cars, planes, modern trains, and a countless other things.

Kate squealed and kissed him soundly for it. "Get to work, babe, stop dragging your feet. We have to get this thing into the wagon." It was now her most prized possession.

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Only twelve of the German immigrants didn't have a lot of work to do if they were going to leave tomorrow morning.

While it wasn't the wedding of her young dreams, it was still a wedding ceremony and she was the one getting married. Her ring was from the 21st century and was gorgeous. She had gotten Rick a ring and it came from 1821 so it was rather simple.

It was so simple all she had to do was say, "I do," as did Rick. Then they kissed and heard clapping from their new German friends.

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They had sold their house and they'd had to pull out their little dome tent that had their new friends talking and asking questions about it. Plus they had an air mattress and sleeping bags that none of them had ever seen in their lives. It only reinforced the belief that having the Castles with them was a good thing.

Then they watched as Rick put his compound bow at the front of the wagon while Kate's was at the back. Again they had never seen anything like them. Kate had even offered to let Werner fire an arrow from it and had suggested a distant target for him to hit.

He had thought she was nuts. It was far too far away, however, he did manage to come close to hitting the target. Now he wanted to know how to make one. And for that Rick had a diagram on how to do it just in case one of theirs was damaged.

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It turned out that there were thirty-nine wagons in all and Rick and Kate were sixteenth in line. Their wagon was the largest and longest at eighteen feet long by eleven feet high by four feet wide that had six Morgan horses pulling it and likely weighed in at four point nine tons. Then came Patches and Samson, two milk cows, four milk goats, and finally sixteen cows to butcher and eat either along the way or after they got there.

The Germans had the bulls so they could, if they wanted, have baby calves in the future. They also had a mix of horses, oxen, and mules pulling their respective wagons.

As much as it sounded horribly expensive it was actually not all that expensive. Rick and Kate still had several pounds of gold coins in addition to a lot of cold hard cash from their jobs, selling their house, and the money made in interest.

They had also learned that several of the Germans had gotten dogs to help defend them and be watch dogs when they stopped. There were sixteen dogs in total and most were young. Three years old was the average age.

"Ready?" Rick turned to look at Kate who was sitting on the horse next to him. They were both on the horses closest to the wagon with two horses out in front of each of them.

"Nine weeks on a horse while living in a tent with no showers and barely a bath unless we come across a stream? No! Do I have a choice, husband of mine? No. Let's get started." Kate kicked her horse and used the reins she had to get the two in front of her moving. Startled, Rick gave his reins a shake and both sets of horses began pulling the wagon.

"Nine weeks," Kate muttered to herself, not hearing Rick doing the same. Neither were all that enthused about the journey. It was just that they had committed themselves to this before they even came here.

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They both knew that there were German outriders in front and on each side, meaning several of the wagons only had one person. Each was armed and on the lookout for trouble. Werner himself was even one of them. Somewhere along the way Rick and even Kate would be doing the same. Werner had at first fought having Kate be one of the outriders. But watching her use her bow and watching her beat several of his best men in hand to hand taught him otherwise.

Rick had stood there smiling while Kate used what he knew as Judo to take out each of them. She had them flying and hitting the ground hard since none of them knew how to fall properly. All of the German immigrants now had a new understanding of Kate. The women weren't so sure since what she was doing and willing to do wasn't normal. It just wasn't done. Then they also found out that she knew how to cook.

Kate for her part was loving it. So few of them understood English so she was speaking German a whole lot and was having the time of her life.

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They were a week in and Rick had the tent up, the mattress inflated, and both sleeping bags in place. Several of the German women were doing most of the cooking and each time they stopped they tried to gather into as few groups as possible and even then they had guards.

There was a small stream nearby and Kate had just come back from giving herself a sponge bath. She briefly considered stripping and washing everything in the stream but thought better of it. A few of them were young teenagers both male and female so even if she thought it was safe, it was best not to encourage something stupid.

"How you feeling?" One week in had shown them just what life was going to be like for eight more weeks or so. It meant checking their wagon. Focusing on the wheels. They only had one spare and it was one of the smaller ones up front. The rear wheels were larger and if they lost one of those they were going to have to build one.

That was followed by releasing the horses to forage while hobbled so they couldn't run away. Feed them, feed the cows, feed the goats, feed the kittens, and then feed themselves.

Kate would also be taking her turn to help cook for the group eventually. Her kitchen goods consisting of a Dutch oven, a skillet, a kettle, a coffee grinder, a teapot, several knives, a ladle, some wooden spoons, tin tableware, and matches had been almost the last things packed.

"So far so good. That stream was a little cold. I don't suppose we could unpack your bath and build a fire?" Kate knew the answer was no, but she could dream.

When they got closer to the cooking area Kate could smell it. "Damn but that smells good. There's nothing like authentic German cooking. You're going to love this, babe." If it tasted even half as good as it smelled Kate was thinking she just might survive.

Granted, Rick had already eaten German cooking a number of times over the last week, but this was a different group of women.

Then Werner stopped her and started talking to her. "He wants to stay here tomorrow and go hunting for game. Gut it, skin it, and prepare it. It'll save us from having to kill and butcher a cow," Kate explained. "Oh and one of us needs to volunteer for guard duty on horseback tomorrow. And there's a stream nearby so we can fill our barrels with fresh water." Werner had a reason that seemed sound to Rick.

"I'll take guard duty if you want to help with what they kill or you kill." Her bow had more range than any of the weapons that the Germans had. Plus their flintlocks were loud. So if they managed to miss it would scare away all the others.

"Deal." Kate was in; she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "We're in the middle of nowhere, husband, but I still love you." She smiled at him.

"We've only gone seventy to ninety miles so far which means we're in New Jersey and will be for a week or two. After that will come our first big test, crossing the Delaware River. It's about three hundred or so miles long, four hundred fifty feet wide and thirty-five feet deep. And no, we can't go around it. There are a number of places that have sandbars in the middle. If we can find one of those it might be best." Their wagon could float but not all of the others were like theirs. Actually most weren't.

Kate nodded. "I'll tell Werner. Maybe he can send out men to reconnoiter the right place and direct us there."

"Don't get too enthused," Rick warned. "We still have the Leigh River to cross right after that. Maybe twice depending on just where we are. Then a couple of streams followed by the Schuykill River. There will be several smaller creeks until the big one, the Susquehanna River. THEN if we're too far north we'll come across the Ohio River. But we don't have to cross that. We just have to go south from there."

"I think I hate you," Kate told him since she wasn't looking forward to any river crossing. "This thing had better float or you, dearest husband, are in big trouble. And the animals had better not drown. Especially Patches." She poked him in the chest to reinforce her point.


	18. Chapter 18

**It's About Time **

_Chapter 18_

Rick and Kate found out first hand just how their German friends that didn't have Conestoga wagons were going to cross the Delaware River. They watched as a few wagons started unloading canoes. They watched as they bound them together and worked at getting the wagon onto the latched together canoes and then poled their way across the river. Unloaded the wagon and repeated over and over again.

It had taken them two days to get everyone across. They had even gotten most of the animals into those same canoes so that most of them didn't have to swim.

Rick and Kate let them take their animal across save for Patches and Samson. They swam across being tied behind their wagon as the six horses out in front swam their way across. Rick and Kate both got wet though they had dressed for it.

Once across they both watched as a little water leaked out the bottom of their wagon. "Okay, so not totally waterproof. Maybe with a little work I can fix that." Anything that was going to get wet wasn't going to be ruined by a little water. Blankets, sheets, pillows, and other soft items were all stowed on top. So long as the roof didn't leak they would be fine.

They gathered into three groups once on the other side and allowed all the animals to roam and relax from the crossing. Kate gave Patches an apple since he had been such a good boy. "You sure you want one?" Kate asked Samson after he nudged her with his head. She got one for him and let him try one. He ate it easily which caused her to start to worry if she had enough apples for both of them.

"Good thing I have carrots, too." She would try them after all the fresh apples were gone.

Kate went in search of Rick. "Babe, do we have seeds for apple trees?" Their horses looked to be addicted to them.

"Let me think. …Apple trees, plum trees, serviceberry trees, blackberry bushes, blueberry bushes, strawberry plants, black raspberry along with a number of other plants. That enough? Maybe our friends have others like cherry seeds, for example."

"That's enough, babe, thanks." Kate gave him a quick kiss and headed to the cooking area since it was her turn to help.

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Rick was resting on the sleeping bag that was on top of the air mattress that thankfully still didn't have a leak. Though he did have a kit to patch a hole. He was grateful that he was dry for a change.

They hadn't made it far from the shore of the Delaware River when it had started to rain. Today was going to be the third day of rain if it kept it up. He'd been forced him to go out into the rain to check on everything. The wagon to see if the roof was leaking. It wasn't yet. Check on all the animals that were all getting wet and looked miserable. The kittens, he was guessing, were still hiding out in the wagon. Regardless of the weather they all had to be fed, had to be watered, and checked to see that they hadn't attracted any unwanted pests.

Then suddenly the zipper opened and in came a soaked Kate. Rick had made all the other trips and Kate had volunteered this time. She wasted no time in zipping the tent closed. "It had better stop fucking raining or I'm going to turn into a fish." Even if she had only done it once so far.

Rick felt for her since he was running short of dry clothes. Kate had only just started to strip when someone or something scratched against the side of their tent. She stopped so she could unzip.

Outside was one of their friends. "He says it's our turn for guard duty," Kate told Rick who started to get up. "I'll go since I'm already soaked to the bone. I'll saddle Patches, get my bow and arrows, and go on patrol." She doubted anyone or anything was up and about in this rain but it didn't pay to underestimate what could happen.

Rick stopped her and kissed her before she left.

"Hi, Patches." Kate petted his head and scratched his ears a little. "Here, you can munch on this while I saddle you." She held his apple in the palm of her hand. She only had a few more to give him before switching to carrots.

Kate put her bow and arrows over her back, mounted Patches, and took off. It was still raining though calling it rain was a bit much. It was more of a mist than anything. Whatever they called it, it was enough to get anyone soaked.

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They had lost five days in total. Three days from the rain plus another two days to try and allow the ground to dry out before their heavy wagons started running over it and getting stuck in the mud.

That first night Rick and Kate were sitting where they could and eating what had been cooked for them. "Might be closer to ten weeks now." They were behind schedule thanks to the weather.

They were just finishing when another of their German friends showed up and started speaking in German. "He says they want to stop here and do some hunting. They want us to use our bows to hunt for big game while they set traps. They'll collect the traps tomorrow and prepare anything they catch."

Rick was starting to learn that they weren't just a group, they were starting to be a family. Granted he didn't understand a word they said, but it still felt like that. "I can teach you German, babe."

Rick had readily agreed to being taught by Kate to at least speak some German.

"Let's get changed and we can start now. Maybe we'll get lucky. Ask him if they'll watch the animals while we're gone. We can take the tent with us if we want. Backpack it and stay out," Rick said.

That had Kate thinking. She'd had to get used to doing her business outside and not use a toilet. Taking cold sponge baths. Riding a horse day in and day out. There was a drawback that was starting to get to her, though. She was willing to be a little exhibitionist and let someone see a little something. Even here a little. It was just that when Rick ate her pussy and gave her those countless number of orgasms, she was extremely vocal and couldn't help it. Going camping while hunting might mean she could yell and scream to her heart's content.

Kate told him they would be leaving now and staying out there in their tent and asked him to watch over their animals for them. "He agrees. You get the tent and I'll get the weapons. Don't forget to pack something for us to eat and drink."

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Most of the streams had been relatively simple, save for one of them. While it wasn't deep or really all that wide, it was cut into the hillside so that they had to go downhill to a very rocky stream. Just getting down to it let alone across it had slowed them considerably.

Then they'd had no choice but to stay for two days on the other side. Four of the wagons ended up with broken wheels. They had extras but it meant using all the spares the Germans had. It forced them to unpack one of the wagons so they could make more. They settled on making just three before packing up and moving on.

Rick was naked and had an equally naked Kate wrapped up in his arms inside their tent. "Eleven weeks," he whispered. It seemed everything was slowing them down.

"When's the first snow?" Kate was ready to start shivering. Their little tent was going to be covered with snow.

"November to March with about fourteen to thirty inches per year," Rick replied.

"It's early July and it's taking too long." Kate snuggled in a little closer to get some more heat. Not that she was actually cold. They had over another month of travel to get to their location. It would leave them about three months to do anything. Not enough time to plant anything.

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They had crossed two more rivers that had them using that canoe method. Lash them together, place wood planks on them for the wagon to sit on, with more wood planks to get from the ground to the canoes. Then across the river and off, then back across, and repeat over and over again. Not just the wagons but all of the animals went both times this time.

Rick worried they were too big and far too heavy for this system so their wagon went across the hard way. It was a little hard on the Morgans but they stopped for a day each time to let everyone and animals rest up.

The last river had been a bit of a challenge for all of them. It wasn't the river itself since they had worked out just how to do that. It was getting down the hill filled with trees to New River. They had to cross it to get to where they wanted to go.

However, their German friends were ready for this challenge. Rick had to give it to them. They knew exactly what they were doing. They used a series of pulleys and ropes and used horses for power to slowly let each wagon go down the steep hillside until they reached the water.

While the process took time and slowed them down, they only lost three wheels during the entire process. Rick and even Kate was fearful that they were going to lose a whole wagon and watch it tumble down the hill, taking out trees until it crashed into the river.

Three days later Rick announced that they had arrived. "It's called Glade Creek. It should be filled with trout for fishing. Lots of space for a mill or two. Fresh water and lots of trees. To either side are low rolling hills for farms. Maybe fourteen inches of snow each year though we will get lots of rain."

They gathered into three separate areas then spread out to get a feel for the place.

Three days later they were all in the same campsite to talk. "We like it. We saw signs of big game for hunting. Places to set our traps. Lots of land to plant crops and lots of trees and a steady supply of fresh water.

"You two got us here so you get first choice. Just try to leave space for the rest of us." Werner teased since there was more than enough space for all of them. "Everyone spread out after our friends have chosen and we can get started."

Then he laid out a few rules. "We need teams for everything. One team will be cutting down trees. Another team will hew the trees into logs. Another team will make the pegs that we will need. We still need to hunt and keep guards around what we can since we will be more spread out now. So we will keep three main campsites for all the cooking. Try not to get too far away as you pick your site."

Rick and Kate left their wagon and animals behind since they trusted all of them now with their lives. So with Rick on Samson and Kate on Patches they went out looking for the perfect site for them. They took something and found some wood stakes to put in the ground to show where the house would go and where the barn would go. It took them close to three hours to agree on a location and stake it out.

It took everyone a week to find their site to live. Rick had already been out on guard a couple of times and had been out with Kate three times to go hunting for larger game.

At the moment Kate was with Rick as they got ready for bed. "What do you think? You're here now, think you can manage?" She had a really good idea of what life was going to be like for months and months.

"I've got you and we've got friends. It's going to be a lot of work but once we get the hang of it it should be fine. I've talked with Werner." Kate snuggled into Rick which was where she liked to be.

"What did he have to say? Did we stake out too much space?" They had taken only about twelve acres of space which included just a touch of the stream so that they could access fresh water while still on their property.

"No, he actually thought we might take more so maybe we should," Kate said which had Rick thinking about it.

"Fine by me. Maybe more space on either side of the barn for more plants," Rick agreed quickly.

"I've already told him that. We also talked about the size of the house and barn. He called the house a dogtrot house," Kate told him and smiled.

"A what?" Rick knew the size he wanted and what it looked like. He just hadn't done that much research on it.

"I have no idea. It's just that we want space on one side that will be the living area with a fireplace on the end, then a breezeway, then a kitchen with a chimney for the stove on the other. Overhead will be the bedrooms over all of it. Twenty feet by eighteen feet for each space with a twelve foot wide breezeway. Windows on all sides even the breezeway. Doors for both in the breezeway.

"He's going to calculate just how many trees we will need for the cabin. As for your barn that will take more trees and a lot more time. He's pretty sure the cabin can be completed before winter though the barn may be another year or longer. But for all of the animals' sake he's thinking that they'll be building barns first. Need someplace to store all the hay that we harvest so it doesn't get wet and start to mold. So our home is going to have to wait for a while. We can always live in the barn if need be.

"He liked the idea of it being on a hill. The horses and your beer equipment can be on one level and then we can put the goats and cows on the slope under the upper level of the barn. Hay and other food for the animals can go in the loft. He liked it. He also can't wait for you to make your first beer. He's even going to find out if any of them have any knowledge of making beer. German beer, naturally," Kate said with a grin.

"I'll take all the help I can get. Maybe hire some of the kids to help me. We're going to need them when it comes time to harvest the crops." Rick was glad Kate had found them.

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Rick was just getting home which was their little two man tent and that wasn't going to change for a long time. He'd gotten lucky and had dropped off his kill at one of the three campsites that was used for cooking. Now all he wanted to do was go down to their little part of the stream and get clean.

Once clean and dressed he went in search of Kate. He eventually found her where he hadn't expected her. She was sitting on a log, had a two handed knife in her hand and to his way of thinking she was whittling something. He didn't know carving was something she did.

She had two piles of wood next to her. One on each side. Along with a whetstone and a gauge someone made by augering through a piece of hardwood. "What are you doing, love?"

"Making pegs!" Kate threw the one she had just finished at him and picked up the next piece of bare wood that even still had the bark on it. "I was told that we, meaning all of us, are going to be needing hundreds of these things. Especially for your precious barn."

"Pegs?" He seemed to remember reading something about them but had gotten distracted and never went back.

"PEGS!" Kate yelled. Then she put her tool down and picked up one of the finished ones. It looked a lot like a number 2 pencil that was roughly an inch in diameter, only without the lead or eraser.

"They cut down a tree, use axes to remove the bark and then hack at them to make them flat on two sides. Something about it allowing the rain water to fall off easier and not promote rot. Then to connect one log to another for our cabin they are going to cut out something called a dovetail cut. Except for your barn they're going to have to drill holes by hand and then hammer in these pegs. Roughly two pegs per joint. Guess how many joints in just your barn?" Kate looked up and glared at him.

"No, thanks." She had already removed enough of his ass as it was.

"Well lucky for you they wanted you to start hewing logs for our barn as soon as you got back. …That way," Kate pointed, "and bring your axes with you." She smiled since she had seen the size of some of the trees they were cutting down. Rick was going to come home hurting, she was sure.

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Rick was still gone and she had reached her quota of pegs for the day. Only her day wasn't over yet. She still had to feed their horses, their cows, and their goats. Then the three cats since by now they weren't kittens any longer.

She was long since down to feeding Patches and Samson carrots that weren't going to last much longer. Even worse their next apple or carrot was going to be a long time from now. "Enjoy them while you can, guys." Kate patted both of them and saw one of their friends headed her way. "What's up?"

"We need you for guard duty. Two of us have come down sick with something. It's an emergency or we wouldn't ask." He was apologetic but they needed her.

"Take me to them, I need to see them." She wasn't a doctor but they had something their friends didn't know anything about.

Kate found them down and sweating. Placing a hand on his forehead told her he had a fever. Then she got to work on his shirt so she could see his chest. She didn't really see anything and then he started coughing that tuned into hacking cough. She didn't like the sound of it.

"I'll be right back. They both need their pants removed so I can see their bare ass," Kate instructed and headed for their wagon.

It took time since the really good stuff was buried seriously deep inside their wagon. They only had just so many bottles and they only had just so many needles. Though if they could clean the needles themselves they could reuse them without danger.

Kate plunged a needle into a vial, filled it part way, and then did the same for the other.

When she got back to the men she found them both on their stomachs with their bare asses hanging out. "Perfect." Kate pulled out her first needle and was stopped by a hand.

"What's that?" They had never seen anything like what she had in her hand.

"Medicine. After I use it they will both be fine by morning. I promise." If they weren't allergic to penicillin….

She wasn't really any good at giving shots but since it went in their ass it was easy enough. "All done. Try and keep them warm, make sure they drink all they can, and let them sleep if they want. They should be better by morning. Let me or Rick know if anyone else gets sick." They didn't have a lot, but they did have directions to make more.

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Kate was eating as she watched Rick shuffle his way over to her and sit down. "Hungry?"

Instead of answering her question or helping himself he showed her his hands. "OH, BABY!" Blisters covered both hands.

"We have winter gloves but I never thought about work gloves. I'm going to have to wrap them with something tomorrow. Thankfully we do have some cream to put on them that will help." Rick had been kicking himself almost all day over not having gloves.

Kate stood up, got some food for him, and handed it to him. "Can you feed yourself or do you need me to feed you?" She couldn't resist and saw the look he gave her.

"Ha, ha. I'll let you hew logs tomorrow while I make pegs," Rick grumbled as he worked out how to hold his fork.

"No, thanks." She hated making pegs but was sure she would hate what Rick was doing more.

"You should see the trees they're cutting down. Sixty feet tall by eight feet around. Then I and others get to cut away all the bark and turn that one tree into a log or two for a cabin or barn. Eight inches wide by twenty-four inches tall. Took me all day to do just one while they finished two," Rick explained.

"Poor baby." Kate wasn't teasing. She really did feel bad for him. She laid her hand on his shoulder only to have him hiss from the pain. She immediately put her food down and stood behind him so she could work on his shoulders. "Jeez, Rick, your shoulders are made of steel." He was really tight as she started working on them. Her own hands hurt from making pegs but at least she didn't have blisters.

"Still glad we came here, babe?" He was hurting and she was feeling his pain.

He turned his head to look at her. "I got to keep you and I love you, so yes. Any price is worth it." Rick smiled at her; she stopped massaging his shoulders to kiss him.

"I love you, too," Kate murmured and went back to work on his shoulders.


	19. Chapter 19

**It's About Time**

_Chapter 19_

_Epilogue_

_It is now one year later_

"What do you think?" Rick had his arm around Kate as they looked at the now mostly finished cabin that was going to be home for them. It still needed doors, windows, and chinking to fill in the gaps between the logs. And a roof, of course, though the rafters were in place as were the purlins. It was going to take another few weeks or a month or two to fully complete, but they had a home.

"A little rustic for my taste but I like it. I still wish we had indoor running water and a real toilet. OH, and a washing machine. And a dishwasher." Kate was having some fun with him since she didn't mind missing most of those things. Save for the washing machine. Doing clothes by hand was a real pain. They had to be hand washed on a scrub board, rinsed in a wash tub, then wrung out, and laid over fences or bushes to dry.

Rick simply kissed her head. "And perhaps a motorcycle or a car. Maybe a well with an inline pump. Right now I'd settle for a tin roof."

"When do you leave?" She knew another trip into the closest town was coming up. There were things they needed that they couldn't make here.

"Tomorrow. Three wagons and eight riders for protection. I'm one of the eight. I plan on taking the tent, sleeping bag, and air mattress if that's okay with you." This was about as close to roughing it as Rick wanted to get.

"Just come back safe. …With the glass for the windows." Kate looked up at him.

"That's the plan, love." Rick then offered her the one creature comfort that he was certain would please her. "Come on, you can help me gather some flat rocks and we'll move the tub into place and fill it with water. Maybe you can have a nice hot bath before I leave."

"Yes, please. The baby wants a nice hot bath." Kate rested her hand on her barely noticeable baby bump. She was very late, they were out of condoms, and her belly was just a touch bigger. It was all they needed to decide that she was indeed pregnant.

Kate still wasn't sure about wanting to be pregnant. There were no hospitals. She wasn't going to get a shot for the pain that was to come. And they literally had nothing for a baby. Granted their German friends seemed to be doing just fine. There had already been three births in their group so Kate was going to make it four unless someone wasn't talking.

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Kate was standing naked in the breezeway save for the linen towel that was wrapped around her. Rick had just gotten the fire started and had moved her stool into place so that she could step in and out of the tub.

The breezeway provided protection from the elements. It also helped to provide a draft that had the smoke going out the side and up the side of the cabin since the tub was placed close to the back edge.

"You're sure the fire is big enough?" She wanted a hot bath not a kind of not cold bath.

"We want it warm if not hot. Not so hot that it cooks you and the baby," Rick said and watched the tiny fire start heating up the water. After a few minutes a quick finger test told him that it was at least starting to get warm. Warm enough that she could get in and let it get hotter still.

"Ready, my lady." Rick held out his hand and Kate took it after dropping her towel and stepped in. It wasn't cold but it wasn't hot either. Still the fire was still going so it would get hotter eventually.

Kate settled down until her bare ass hit the metal of the tub. That was when she noticed a temperature difference. "Maybe spread the fire out just a touch." The very center was getting a little hot. Rick used a stick to poke the fire with so that it moved around a little and went down some.

"Better?" Rick asked which had her using her foot to test the very center. It was still hot but not scalding hot.

"Better, thank you." She leaned back, closed her eyes, and let the heat of the water work its magic. "Don't forget stuff for the baby." They were going into town for a number of things. One was glass for windows for their cabin since it had none. Another was a set of millstones for their mill that was already under construction. They also wanted to find out if the town could make sheet metal for roofs. If it could they would be back with more wagons until they'd purchased all the town had or could make during that time.

"I won't forget. That and some new work gloves for my hands, and more saws and axe handles." Rick held up his hands. They weren't city boy hands any longer. Though the gloves he had gotten from the last trip had been a godsend. "Maybe a new dress for a certain someone?" he grinned.

That had Kate opening her eyes to look at him. As much as she would love a new dress there were other things they needed more. "Work clothes and more gloves would be better. I'm still making pegs." She sighed. "I'm learning to really hate pegs."

When she wasn't cooking with the others, she was out hunting for food. When she wasn't doing that she was helping Rick plow the fields to either side of their mostly complete barn that actually had a roof, doors, and most everything. When she wasn't doing that she was on guard duty. And when she wasn't doing any of those things she was making the damn pegs that were the bane of her existence.

That made Rick laugh. She was making pegs and he was still hewing logs for cabins and barns. Their cabin was the third to be mostly completed. They'd already started on two more and they had even raised two more barns. Their barn had been first because of what Kate had done for that sickness that had struck their friends. Rick was still mostly planting, dividing and then replanting to make each field larger.

The fields that were growing crops for food had top priority and he and Kate understood that.

It was also why they were down to just twelve cows now instead of their original sixteen. They were being forced to go farther and farther out when hunting. Even their traps were being set farther and farther afield.

However, thanks to the bulls that the Germans had brought Rick and Kate did have two baby calves that were growing like weeds. They also had a Spanish baby kid that bounced around on its hooves like they were springs. They had named him Heartly because he had a white heart about the size of Kate's palm on his back. The goats were kept penned in because they ate anything and everything!

Even Huey, Dewey, and Louie had been busy, they were guessing. The Germans had brought a few cats as well for their barns. All of their female cats were either presently pregnant or had delivered several litters of kittens. Even the dogs had been busy over the last year and the canine population was growing as well. Rick and Kate had already been promised two from one of the litters. Once they were older they would help keep unwanted critters out of Rick's fields and out of Kate's crops. Her crops were tiny compared to the others. It was just two raised beds. But every little bit helped.

Kate had even made sure she found time to start planting apple trees for Patches and Samson. She had also taken the time to plant carrots in her little garden. Maybe she should have been more dedicated to food for herself and Rick, but she was putting the horses first.

The fire was long since dead and the water was now cold and a happy Kate was resting with Rick just inside their breezeway and out of the sun.

In the distance they could see others moving around. Either tending to gardens or tending to fields or chasing an animal that had gotten away. "Don't forget apples. Patches hasn't had an apple for so long."

Their trees were barely little buds poking up out of the ground. Worse was that a few of them had died for whatever reason. At least the others were doing fine and they still had a few seeds with which to try again.

"And maybe a new blanket for his back, and maybe a new brush." Kate was suddenly full of ideas of what they needed.

"Keep this up and we'll have to hook up our team and take our wagon." Rick was amused that she suddenly wanted so many things. Except instead of saying something back she just sat there and took in the view.

They couldn't see everyone from their place. They were on a bit of a hill so that all the water ran off it and down the hill. While they had cut down a lot of the really bigger and older trees, they'd left all of the younger trees. In addition there were all of the bushes that were growing fast and starting to produce berries for them.

Then a small hill would hide still more people. Still everyone was in close riding distance.

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Kate was next to him as he mounted Samson. He had his bow and arrows and she noticed he also had his pistol. She thought about trying to talk him into taking one of the rifles but he was a better shot with his bow and it was more accurate over a long distance.

"Diapers, baby powder, baby oil, baby shampoo, crib, baby clothes, baby formula, baby bottles…" Kate stopped after she saw the look he was giving her. "Just come back in one piece, I'm not raising our baby alone."

Rick didn't dare risk leaning that far down to kiss her so he simply stroked her cheek. "I'll be fine. We've done this before. It's only a one day ride using the wagons." The town was established in 1776 so it wasn't a one horse town.

It had a single general store, a blacksmith, three bars, and a church. It even had a dentist, not that Rick dared ever use him unless it was a dire emergency. He was interested in seeing what had changed over the last year. There had been a little construction taking place last time.

Rick was soon galloping off to meet up with the others and start his job. The eight of them would take turns riding on point.

It was to the north just along the Ohio River on the south side and easy to find.

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They arrived a little late in the day; fortunately the general store was open and they proceeded to buy an abundance of things. By the time it had closed they had filled one of the wagons with flour, sugar, beans, rice, bacon, eggs, saws, axes of different types, work gloves, and tobacco. They even had candy that had Rick buying almost all they had. He may not have any kids yet, but there were kids in their community and he had a sweet tooth that needed constant care.

The glass for the windows would have to wait until tomorrow. They also stopped at the blacksmith to buy things they were sorely in need of. And they needed him to sharpen a number of dulled axes that they had brought with them.

Come the next morning they went back into town and picked up all the other things that they could find. A quick stop to eat something while they rode home and they were outside of town.

They were about four hours out when the trailing guard came hurtling in at a full run. A blast on the whistle that Rick had brought with them from 2012 had all of the guards charging in to join the wagons.

"Riders, trying to be sneaky," the trailing guard reported and pointed them out.

Two of the Germans had proven they were good with a pistol and throwing a knife even from a horse so they rode out so that a blast of the whistle would have them come charging in.

Rick with his bow and the others with their flintlock rifles took up a line that was in the shape of an arc.

Rick saw one of them first and didn't wait. He fired an arrow at a distance that was going to shock these guys. His shot hit the rider's horse right in the head. The horse was a larger target and therefore easier to hit. And if they killed their horses it put the would-be thieves on the ground.

Rick lined up on the second and put his horse down by the time they figured out what was going on. It forced the other six to start charging in.

Rick hadn't waited to ask what this group wanted. It was just that they had ridden in and all bought everything they'd needed. It told the possibly more unscrupulous members of the town that they were rich. Maybe still rich and worth attacking and taking everything.

It was the one thing Rick most worried about. The movies might suggest that the Indians were a danger and perhaps in some areas they were. Out here, though, he was more worried about gangs that were more interested in stealing from others like their group.

Rick heard the flintlocks around him starting to fire. When they stopped he started firing and took down one more horse.

"Blow the whistle!" Rick had a surprise for the five that remained.

The second round of flintlocks didn't hit a thing just like the first round. However, when they stopped to reload or take out pistols since these five where getting closer, Rick took out a rider this time, followed by another horse.

Then the German riders, armed with pistols and throwing knives, rose up over a small hill and actually took out one more rider. The two that were still mounted stopped, turned around, and ran off just as hard as they had been riding toward them.

While Rick didn't approve, the Germans went out and stripped the riders of everything they had. Those that weren't actually dead were killed. Not that Rick ever knew about that. He had stayed with the wagons and kept his bow out in case anyone else decided to join the party.

An hour later all Rick really saw was that they now had two horses complete with saddles and saddle bags that were now tied to the back of their wagons and placidly following along.

Rick took tail just in case but was soon joined by one of the Germans that actually knew a little English. Between his bad English and Rick's equally bad German, Rick was able to ascertain that he was interested in having Rick make him a bow just like his. Their rifles were slow to load and inaccurate.

Rick promised he would do what he could. One of the tricks was going to be the string. He and Kate had only one spare each for their own bows so what was he going to make his string from?

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Kate was out hunting with her bow when she spotted the first wagon. "Apples, Patches!" She had him galloping in their direction.

She had already learned of everything that had happened when Rick finally showed up since he was trailing everyone, keeping an eye open.

Once she saw him she remounted Patches and galloped out to join him. Rick stopped so Kate stopped next to him. He was facing in while she was facing out.

She looked him over from top to bottom. "I don't see any blood."

"They blabbed, I take it. The thieves never really got close enough to do any damage. It looks like we're going to have to be more careful about how much we buy from now on. I'm guessing we looked rich and with the women and the wagons, they were betting that we were easy marks." They would defend the women and hand over everything to protect them.

"I see we have new horses. Theirs?" Kate wasn't really guessing since buying horses wasn't on the list. She was used to killing people so didn't bat an eye. "Did you get everything?" She meant everything for the baby.

Rick nodded. "We bought every piece of glass they had. It still means making the windows so they can be installed. We even went to the blacksmith to get some of our tools sharpened. Bought things from him as well. Oh, and we bought a fair amount of food that we need to distribute."

Kate turned around and started riding next to him back toward home. "Baby stuff?" She was going to hurt him if he hadn't.

"Of course!" As if he wouldn't. "Not really sure which wagon it's all in but it's all there. I think the plan is to stop at all the farms that need things and search for what they wanted. I bought you more pots and pans and even some more fancy plates, bowls, and silverware."

Kate would have kissed him for that except they were still on horses. Kate had long since learned she was the cook in this family. What Rick could do was at best questionable. He might be able to feed himself but it wouldn't taste anything like she could make.

"There is one thing. Our friends are planning on raising a barn tomorrow if you got back in time. They're going to invite everyone and have one big party while we work," Kate said.

"Put some of your pegs to work? I'm in since it means amazing German food." Rick was learning to like German food. Some of it, like sauerkraut, still made him want to throw up but most of it was pretty good.

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Kate was actually giddy as she watched and even helped take things off the various wagons and then into their home. It was a feeling she was sure she was never going to feel. Meeting a real live Angel and falling in love with him was proving to be the single most greatest thing in her life.

"It's broken!" she wailed as she finally saw the baby crib coming out of the wagon. She was guessing stuff must have moved around enough and her crib took the brunt of it. She looked it over and ran her hands over it see just how much damage there was. Suddenly there were tears in her eyes. Her baby didn't have a bed.

Rick knelt next to her. "We can take it to Werner, love. Maybe one of our friends makes furniture and can fix it. Though we still have time to go back and get another one. Or they can make one from scratch. Perhaps you can tell them what what you want it to look like."

Kate wiped her tears away and thought about what he had said. This thing looked broken and unfixable to her but then she wasn't a carpenter. "Make one, maybe?" Her baby needed somewhere to sleep.

She'd watched everything including some of the food come off the wagons and go into their house. A lot of it coaxed a smile to appear on her face. "Rick, what is this?" It looked familiar but it was different.

"That, my love, is a futon cover. I think it's full of horse hair instead of foam like it would be in 2012. Our friends are making some furniture for everyone. I asked for a sofa that could turn into a futon but with taller legs so it's easier to get up from. It's for the living room. Eventually there will be a kitchen table and chairs inside and out in the breezeway. At some point we may even have a real bed, likely filled with still more horse hair." He shrugged. "Or feathers. No springs, though, sorry." This was 1821 after all soon to be 1822.

"Where are the dogs?" Rick could see pretty much everyone save for any animal that wasn't in their barn.

Kate whistled and yelled, "ZEUS, APOLLO! GET OUT HERE!"

Two blue merle Collie puppies came pelting out of the house instead of playing with each other and inspecting the people that were in their home. The Germans had gotten dogs that were mostly herders though they also had two different breeds of Setters that were bird dogs. Since Rick and Kate had cows and goats they chose herders instead of bird dogs.

The moment Apollo and Zeus spotted that Rick was home they rushed him and demanded attention.

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Kate was enjoying the enormous meal that followed the raising of a barn. It was just the skeleton that consisted of massive timbers that Rick had helped hew into huge beams. In time they would make boards for the exterior and then eventually the roof. However, it was getting late in the year and fall was in the air.

Kate worked at getting everyone's attention since she wanted to share the news. "We're going to have a baby." This announcement was followed by them being congratulated and hugged and kissed by nearly everyone.

Werner made it clear that he was going to forbid her from going out on guard duty and would eventually forbid her from going out hunting. Kate had feared that but when she got bigger he was probably right.

"Have you decided on names yet?" she was asked.

"At first we were thinking that if it was a boy we would name him James after my father. It's just that it doesn't sound all that German to me so I've settled on Jürgen. If it's a girl we've agreed on Nadine," Kate told their friends.

"I will make the crib you requested the very best I've ever made," Kate was assured since Rick had already asked if one could be made since theirs was broken beyond repair.

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"Happy?" Rick asked her once they got home.

Kate wrapped her arms around him. "Very. I've got something that I was sure I was never going to have and had given up on until you came along. I couldn't love you more. I'm even going to have a family."

Rick slipped his arms around her. "Still think you're not an angel?"

"Yep!" Kate kissed him. She hadn't done anything that could be considered truly evil in a while. Still if she felt it was necessary she would kill anyone that she had to and not bat an eye. She might still be evil, she just wasn't all evil.

Born in the early 1900s and now living in the early 1800s, they were about to have a family and were fresh out of condoms.

She was quiet for a bit. Then she looked at her husband, her sadness visible in her eyes. "You know Lucifer is still going to claim me in the end." After her life of happiness was over she would spend all of eternity in Hell, of that she was certain.

"You leave that to God, my love. I'm the Angel around here and I don't think you have anything to worry about. Of course no one lives forever but we're going to be happy and successful and we'll meet each other in the next life." They would be leaving behind memories that the future generations were going to be talking about.

Kate rather liked the sound of all that. But… "In Germany next time?"

"I can't guarantee that. We could be French. Or Swiss. Or Canadian." For all Rick knew they might be Vietnamese. "But I believe with all my heart and soul that we'll never ever be parted."

His words comforted her and gave her heart peace.


End file.
